Veco CEO: My Nephew Blackmailed Me Over Stevens RemodelingHere’s some strange news coming out of the Alaska trial of former state Rep. Vic Kohring. It turns out that when former Veco CEO Bill Allen testified last month in a separate corruption trial about being blackmailed by his own nephew, the strong-arming was related to Sen. Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) suspect home renovation.
Allen was defensive on the stand that day, the Anchorage Daily News reported, combating questioning from defense attorneys that he actually threatened to kill his nephew:
Allen said he didn’t make such a threat. “Not me, no. I told them (him?) I’d beat the shit out of him,” Allen said.Later, he said: “I never did say that I would kill him. No. I wouldn’t have done that … because his mother is my sister.”
Today Allen clarified while under cross-examination that his nephew was blackmailing him over “Ted Stevens’ house.” Just what his nephew was threatening to do (go to the feds?) is unclear.
Allen also testified again today that Veco paid for some of the renovations that doubled Stevens’ home, but he didn’t know how much Veco spent.