Birmingham, AL – A lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges there were more improper payments in bond deals involving Jefferson County.
A government suit filed Wednesday alleges County Commissioner Shelia Smoot and ex-Commissioner Jeff Germany demanded that a Wall Street firm make payments totaling $500,000 to two Alabama-based firms in complicated bond deals.
Smoot and Germany were not named as parties in the civil lawsuit or charged with any crime in connection with it.
The deals were the same ones that played a role in the federal corruption conviction and ouster of Larry Langford as Birmingham's mayor last week.
Germany recently got out of prison on an unrelated corruption conviction, and Smoot is currently seeking the Democratic nomination for Alabama's 7th District congressional seat.
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