Recent Unsealed Indictment Involving Foreign Non Profit Paying For 10 Congressional Members To Travel To Azerbaijan Re Gas Pipeline Project and Iran Exemptions Recently unsealed indictment  Former Non-Profit President Charged with Scheme to Conceal Foreign Funding of 2013 Congressional Trip The former president of a Texas-based non-profit has been charged in an indictment unsealed today for his role in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional trip to Azerbaijan was funded by the Azerbaijan government. Article released in 2015 describes event link  Ten members of Congress and their aides accepted gifts and airfare to Azerbaijan that were secretly paid for by that country’s state-owned oil company. The funding for the airfare and gifts was hidden through Texas-based nonprofits, according to the report, which filed false statements saying they were paying for the trip. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, known as SOCAR, allegedly paid the expenses. Energy companies, including SOCAR, had sought exemptions from U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran so they could operate a massive natural gas pipeline project in the region. The 10 lawmakers and 32 staffers were attending a 2013 conference in Baku that dealt with improving U.S.-Azerbaijan relations. The lawmakers are Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Ted Poe (R-Texas) and then-Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas). Three former Obama officials — Robert Gibbs, Jim Messina and David Plouffe — spoke at the conference. According to article link Tehran is planning to implement new energy projects for boosting its oil and gas extraction level and Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company SOCAR is welcome to play an active role. Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs Amirhossein Zamaninia made the statement on the sidelines of a meeting with Rovnag Ibrahim Abdullayev, president of SOCAR, late on Thursday in Baku, IRNA reported. “Drawing on each other’s expertise in undertaking oil and natural gas ventures can strengthen both states’ economy,” Zamaninia said, adding that there is a huge ground for cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan, especially in the energy sector, to help foster the two nation’s economic development. He added that the two sides should make the best of the opportunity for joint collaboration to tap into the rich oil and gas resources of Caspian Sea region, the world’s biggest lake. “The terms of exploration and development in the region’s oil and gas fields, sharing the latest technologies in the oil and gas industry and joint analysis of seismic data for exploring deep underwater hydrocarbon resources were among the major issues discussed in the meeting,” he said. According to Zamaninia, Tehran is eager to develop offshore oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea in collaboration with foreign majors. “To expand oil and gas development in the Caspian region, we need to reach out to international companies for funds, technology and partnership,” he added. Pointing to deep bonds of economic relations between the two countries, Abdullayev said, “Regular negotiations between Iran and Azerbaijan’s energy officials will not only strengthen cooperation but also persuade the two sides to get involved in joint ventures.” According to the official, several meetings have been held between NIOC representatives and SOCAR, since Tehran and world powers reached a landmark deal in 2015, which led to the lifting of international curbs against the country at the beginning of last year. Highlighting a preliminary agreement signed between SOCAR and NIOC in 2015, Abdullayev said there is plenty of scope for bilateral collaboration in the energy sector. EDIT UPDATE THIS LINKS TO GULEN "A former businessman, Öksüz was the chairman of the Texas-based NGO Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians (TCAE), a Gülenist regional umbrella organization that controlled several other Gülenist non-profits. As a common practice to promote their political agenda and business interests, which is mainly exploiting the U.S. charter school system with dozens of schools, Gülenists often organized paid-for trips to Turkey and its surrounding region for U.S. senators, congress members, state officials and local officials, in addition to dinners, award events and panels. Öksüz and the TCAE came under federal scrutiny by the Congressional Ethics Committee for coordinating a trip in 2013 where dozens of U.S. Members of Congress traveled to Azerbaijan for a conference illegally sponsored by its state oil company, SOCAR. He previously pleaded the Fifth Amendment while politicians involved in the trip were fined by the ethics committee. The report said that the U.S. declared Öksüz wanted on Aug. 23 on four counts of fraud, including submitting falsified documentation to the ethics committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Accordingly, Öksüz said that his NGO, which covered the funding for the trip, did not receive funds from any source but the trip was in fact funded by SOCAR." Obama ties The funding of the trip raised eyebrows in Washington D.C. as the Post reported that the trip came at a time when SOCAR, which has joint projects with Russian and Iranian companies, was looking for exemptions from U.S. sanctions targeting Iran for the Southern Gas Corridor project involving British Petroleum (BP), Turkish Petroleum (TPAO), Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) and many others. It is not clear whether SOCAR's trip had an effect on the decision making of U.S. lawmakers and Obama since various U.S. oil giants like ExxonMobil and Chevron, in addition to U.K.'s BP and Norway's Statoil have stakes in Azeri oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea, alongside Russian and Iranian companies.  Öksüz was also the owner of a company that served as a major vendor for Harmony Public Schools in Texas, which is the largest Gülenist school network in the U.S., according to the book "Empire of Deceit: An Investigation of the Gülen Charter School Network" published by attorney Robert Amsterdam and his law firm, which represent Turkey in lawsuits in the U.S. His company signed more than $50 million in contracts in a year, making Öksüz a millionaire in the process. Harmony operates more than 50 schools in Texas and receives more than $250 million in public funding every year. It also serves as a regional oversight entity for all Gülen-linked school networks and organizations in several states included in the shadowy group's Greater Texas region. Gülenist schools are being accused of exploiting and defrauding the charter school system by emigrating a large number of their sympathizers to the U.S. with H1-B visas and using affiliated vendors to funnel millions of U.S. public money into their own organization. Öksüz and the TCAE are also known for hefty donations mainly aimed at the Democratic Party and its candidates on federal and state level. Turkish media reports after U.S. presidential elections in Nov. 2016 cited that Gülenists donated more than $2 million in Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Öksüz was often spotted in events linked to top-ranking Democrats.