In August, Abramoff was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida on six counts of fraud and conspiracy relating to his role in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. He has pleaded not guilty.
The Abramoff investigation has caused widespread worry in Congress because the onetime lobbyist maintained broad connections among lawmakers.
Abramoff arranged for a Scottish golf outing for DeLay -- a trip that DeLay has asked the House Ethics Committee to review after questions were raised about the trip.
He courted other congressmen by letting them use his skyboxes at sports events. A former deputy interior secretary recently had to testify before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee about his relationship with Abramoff. A nominee for a top Justice Department post withdrew after questions were raised about his dealings with Abramoff.
Prosecutors charged that as part of the scheme with Scanlon, Abramoff, who was identified only as "Lobbyist A," recommended to the four tribes that they hire Scanlon to perform grass-roots work in support of their casino gambling efforts.
Scanlon would charge the tribes "prices that incorporated huge profit margins" and then secretly split the profits with Abramoff, the information said. The two concealed the kickback arrangement from the tribes, it charged.
The criminal information also detailed an alleged corruption scheme involving "Representative #1," considered to be Ney.
The information charged that Scanlon and Abramoff "together and separately provided a stream of things of value" to the congressman and members of his staff, including "a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous courses," tickets to sporting events and meals at a Washington restaurant Abramoff owned, as well as campaign donations.
The congressman agreed to "perform a series of official acts" that benefited clients of Scanlon and Abramoff, prosecutors charged. These included "agreements to support and pass legislation [and] agreements to place statements in the Congressional Record."
According to the criminal information made public Friday, Scanlon and Abramoff also conspired to influence the congressman to advance the application of one of Abramoff's clients to win a license to provide wireless telephone services to the U.S. House.
It was Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, who awarded a licensing agreement worth an estimated $3 million to Foxcom Communication on Nov. 26, 2002. Abramoff's firm later reported that it was a lobbyist for Foxcom, now renamed Mobile Access Networks.
