This week, it was announced that the former president of a Texas-based non-profit had been charged for his involvement in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional trip to Azerbaijan had actually been funded by the country’s government. 48-year-old Kemal Oksuz, aka Kevin Oksuz, previously of Arlington, Virginia is accused of lying on disclosure forms filed with the United States House of Representatives Committee of Ethics prior to and following a privately sponsored congressional trip to Azerbaijan.
The indictment accuses Oksuz of falsely represented on and certifying on required disclosure forms that the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasions had not accepted funding for the Congressional trip from any outside sources. Oksuz was president of the Houston non-profit. The charges claim that the defendant orchestrated a scheme to funnel money to fund the trip from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic, which is a wholly state-owned national oil and gas company.
The five-count indictment was returned earlier this year. Oksuz has been charged with one count of devising a scheme to falsify, conceal and cover up material facts from the Ethics Committee. He has also been charged with four counts of making false statements to Congress. At this point, Oksuz is considered a fugitive. A warrant has been issued for his arrested. The defendant was recently detained by authorities in Armenia. Further details can be found here.
