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Murtha's 'Big-Game’ Link - Washington P~-t Investigations Page | of 3 D6 Che Washington Post \' b7C Print Edition | Subscribe washingtonpostcom seni repsenew Advertisement i NEWS ]] POLITICS |] OPINIONS | LOCAL | SPORTS | ARTS & LIVING } GOING OUT GUIDE JOBS CARS || REAL ESTATE | RENTALS SHOPPING SEARCH: Try Our New Search @ @ washingtonpost.com ©) Web: Raguits by Govale” | Search Archives washingtonpost.com > Nation » About This Blog | Meet the Investigative Team (£3 subscribe Advertisement Washington Post Investigations Watchdog journalismn from The Post and around the Web SPECIAL REPORT Inside Bet Cracking the two biggest cheating scandals in the history of online poker. + Full Report CATEGORIES © Post Investigations In-depth investigative news and mukimedia from The Washington Post. * Special Reports * The Blog @ Reporters’ Notebook An insider's guide to investigative news: reporters offer insights on their stories. © The Daily Read A daily fook at investigative news of note across the Web, . © Top Picks A weekly review of the best in-depth and investigative reports from across the nation. © Hot Documents Court filings, tetters, audits and other documents of interest. 9 D.C. Region Post coverage of investigative news in Maryland, Virginia and the Distnct. & Washington Watchdogs A periodic look into officiat government investigations. © Help! What Is RSS? Find out how to fallow Post http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2009/01/murthas big-game link html?wnrs TOP PICKS HAVE A TIP? Latest Picks Talk to Us -f. Our editors camb the Web *. If you have solid tips, news ( .° “4, @ach week in search of . - of documents on potential Veo notable in-depth and investigative reports from news outlets across the nation. + Dally Read | Top 10 of 2008 ethical violations or abuses of power, we want to know. Send us your suggestions. + E-mail Us Murtha's 'Big-Game' Link POSTED: 04:16 PM ET, 01/26/2009 by Derek Kravitz TAGS: Congress, FBI, confilcts, ethics A big-gama ranch in western Pennsylvania, where longtime Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) threw a lavish $100,000 fundraiser last year, is now at the center of a federal investigation. Last week, federal agents raided a Kuchera Industries facility in Murtha's district along with John P. Murtha the homes of the electronic firm's founders, Bill and Ronald Kuchera. Authorities declined to release details of the investigation. But unnamed sources told the Tribune Democrat in Johnstown, Pa., that the federal investigation is focused on the use of corporate money for "unapproved purposes,” namely a 161-acre private ranch run by Bill Kuchera. Customers at the LBK Game Ranch in Summerhill, Pa., located about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, pay a fee to hunt big game on the site; records show the ranch rakes in about $150,000 per year. Kuchera bought the property in May 2006 for roughly $800,000. The ranch has been used in recent years to entertain clients and, last year, Murtha used the site for a $100,000 "high-end" fundraiser, according to the Tribune Democrat. Federal Elections Commission records show that Kuchera Industries employees and their families contributed more than $60,000 to Murtha over the part three election cycles, and congressional lobbying disclosure forms show $140,000 in payments since 2001 from Kuchera to Ervin Technical Associates, whose chairman is Murtha ally and former Rep. Joseph M. McDade (R-Pa,). In a 2006 Post article, Kuchera himself called Murtha "supportive of everything you can think of around nere, from roads and sewers to defense contractors. But without Jack Murtha, there'd still be a Kuchera. Ads by Google Steven Bankler, CPA, CrFA He was the sole forensic accountant for US Senate Whitewater ow Committee £ 17/009