ABSCAM

Abscam—sometimes written ABSCAM—was a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The two-year investigation was directed from the FBI's office in Hauppauge, New York, and was under the supervision of Assistant Director Neil J. Welch, who headed the bureau's New York division, and Thomas P. Puccio, head of the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York. The operation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prestigious businessmen, but was later converted to a public corruption investigation. The FBI, aided by the Justice Department and a convicted con-man, videotaped politicians accepting bribes from a fraudulent Arabian company in return for various political favors.

More than 30 political figures were investigated and among those a total of seven Congressmen — six members of the United States House of Representatives and one United States Senator — were convicted. Not only were there members of Congress, but also one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and an inspector for the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.

"Abscam" was the FBI codename for the operation. When law enforcement authorities announced the operation, they said that "Abscam" was a contraction of "Arab scam". After complaints from the American-Arab Relations Committee, officials revised the contraction as "Abdul scam" after the name of its fictitious company.

In March 1978, John F. Good of the FBI's office in suburban Long Island created and oversaw a sting operation called "Abscam", which was initially intended to investigate theft, forgery and stolen art. The FBI employed Melvin Weinberg, a convicted swindler, international con artist and informant, and his girlfriend Evelyn Knight, to help plan and conduct the operation. They were facing a prison sentence at the time and in exchange for their help, the FBI agreed to let them out on probation. Weinberg, supervised by the FBI, created a fake company called Abdul Enterprises in which FBI employees posed as fictional Arab sheikhs led by owners Kambir Abdul Rahman and Yassir Habib, who had millions of dollars to invest in the United States. Weinberg instructed the FBI to fund a $1 million-account with the Chase Manhattan Bank in the name of the fictional company, Abdul Enterprises, giving the company the credibility it needed to further its operation.

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