WASHINGTON — While reviewing expense reports for a 2000 construction project, a bookkeeper for Alaska oil-services giant VECO Corp. asked for an explanation. Who was this work for, she asked? The note she received back included the instruction “No paper trail.”
Federal prosecutors say the note, introduced as evidence Friday at Sen. Ted Stevens’ corruption trial, was part of a scheme by Stevens and VECO founder Bill Allen to conceal more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts that the contractor bestowed on the Senate’s longest-serving Republican.
Bookkeeper Cheryl Boomershine testified Friday that VECO employees submitted invoices and expense reports for a project in Girdwood, a ski town south of Anchorage where VECO didn’t normally work.
When she requested details, she said she got little information back. The note listed only one reason for the secrecy: “per Bill Allen.”
