VECO Corp. is out and Penco is in as the top funder for federal candidates from Alaska according to the Anchorage Daily News. Keep in mind that all three of Alaska's members of Congress, Senator Ted Stevens, Senator Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young, made CREW's list of most corrupt members of Congress in our report, Beyond DeLay. Penco is run by Bob Penney who is quite close to Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski. According to the ADN, Mr. Penney "last year appeared before the federal grand jury investigating Stevens." And, Mr. Penney's land deal with Murkowski is one reason she was named in Beyond DeLay. 

There's more:

Bob Penney gave $2,600 to Stevens' re-election campaign in 2007 and $4,600 to Murkowski. Others in the Penney family last year donated an additional $7,200 total to the Stevens campaign and $5,850 to Murkowski.

Penney has known Murkowski since she was the small child of then-Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski.

Lisa Murkowski was accused last year of getting a sweetheart deal from Penney on her purchase of a Kenai riverfront lot next door to Penney's home. Murkowski denied wrongdoing but decided last summer to sell the lot back to Penney as a result of the controversy.

Penney has long been a campaign contributor, giving money to Alaska candidates as well as Outside politicians including former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington, Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, former Montana Sen. Conrad Burns and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

But Penney's 2007 giving is far more than he's contributed in any year at least since 1990, the furthest back Federal Election Commission records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics go.

Bob Penney and Ted Stevens' ties go beyond campaign contributions. They were partners in a Utah land deal where Stevens made an initial investment of $15,000 in 1998 and said in 2005 that he made $150,000 when he sold his interest in the property.

Stevens and Penney have also been partners in racehorses with other influential Alaskans. And they are involved in bringing members of Congress, corporate executives and other VIPs to Alaska each summer for the Kenai River Classic, a king salmon fishing tournament that raises money for fish habitat.

Penney is co-founder and a current board member of the nonprofit Kenai River Sportfishing Association. Congress has earmarked $4.7 million of Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund money over the past four years to be spent under KRSA's direction on fisheries research and habitat work.

Over the past months, we've been profiling the 22 most corrupt members of Congress named in the 2007 edition of report, Beyond DeLay. Alaska has become ground zero for public corruption investigations. In fact, we named the entire congressional delegation to our report on the most corrupt members of Congress. We spend a lot of time in this blog discussing Senator Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young. Today, the spotlight shines on their colleague, Senator Lisa Murkowski:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is a first-term senator representing Alaska. Sen. Murkowski’s ethics violations stem from her purchase of land in Alaska for a price below market value, her acceptance of a mortgage on terms not available to the general public and her failure to accurately disclose the transaction in her 2006 financial disclosure report.

Kenai River Property Purchase

In December 2006, Sen. Murkowski and her husband paid $179,400 for a 1.2 acre vacant lot on the banks of the Kenai River in Alaska from long-time friend and campaign contributor Bob Penney. Three days after the purchase, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assessing Department valued the land at $214,900, 20% over what Sen. Murkowski paid for the land. According to numerous real estate sources in the area, the Kenai lots actually sell for significantly higher than the Borough assessed price because they are located on a world-famous fishing river. Mr. Penney, the seller of the property, has been questioned in connection with a criminal investigation into real estate transactions involving Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. Mr. Penney, though a real-estate developer who has testified regarding the economic impact of fishing upon the Kenai River property values, claims that he was unaware that the Borough assessed value of Sen. Murkowski’s land had increased since 2005, when it was valued at $120,000.

By purchasing the land at a price below the property’s real value, Sen. Murkowski accepted an improper gift from Mr. Penny in violation of the Senate gift rule.

Mortgage for Purchase of Kenai River Property

Sen. Murkowski financed the purchase of the property with a loan for 80% of the purchase price from First Bank in Ketchikan. Sen. Murkowski once sat on the board of directors of First Bank, her sister is a shareholder and member of the bank’s board of directors, her father previously sat on the board of directors and her grandfather was president of the bank. Financial records show the maturity date for Sen. Murkowski’s loan as 2046, making it a thirty-nine year term. First Bank, however, told an Alaskan media outlet that the standard loans for undeveloped property such as Sen. Murkowski’s have a maximum seven-year maturity. On her 2006 financial disclosure form, Sen. Murkowski reported the term as 15 years.

By accepting a loan on terms not generally available to the general public, Sen. Murkowski accepted an improper gift in violation of the Senate gift rule.

Well, that was fast. It's never a dull moment with the Alaska Congressional delegation these days.  According to a report in the Anchorage Daily News, Senator Murkowski is selling back the land she purchased in a very controversial deal. But, of course, it doesn't mean the sale didn't happen:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said this morning that she and her husband intend to sell back their Kenai riverfront property to Anchorage businessman Bob Penney.

Murkowski announced the give back a day after a Washington watchdog group filed a 15-page Senate ethics complaint against her, alleging that Penney sold the property well below market value. The transaction amounted to an illegal gift worth between $70,000 and $170,000, depending on how the property was valued, according to the complaint by the National Legal and Policy Center.

Murkowski told reporters in her Capitol office this morning that Penney, a real estate developer who does business in Alaska and Outside, has agreed to buy back the property for the $179,400 purchase price she and husband Verne Martell paid Dec. 22, 2006.

Major kudos are due to TPMmuckraker for breaking this story.  The title of their post is "Murkowski: Uncle!" 

A "conservative-leaning" organization, the National Law and Policy Center, has filed an ethics complaint against Senator Lisa Murkowski.   This stems from the land purchase she made from a political supporter -- a story broken by our friends at TPMmuckraker just last week.  Now, an ethics complaint from an ethics watchdog: 

A government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint Wednesday against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, charging that her 2006 purchase of an exclusive Kenai riverfront lot was a “sweetheart deal” from Anchorage businessman Bob Penney.

The complaint, brought by Ken Boehm, chairman of the conservative-leaning National Law and Policy Center of Falls Church, Va., also charged that Murkowski filed false information about the land deal on her annual financial disclosure and obtained special treatment on a mortgage from the Ketchikan bank where her sister serves as a director.

Murkowski spokesman Kevin Sweeney said the senator would have no comment Wednesday. Penney said from his summer home on the Kenai River outside Soldotna that he wouldn’t comment, either.

The hits keep right on coming for Senator Lisa Murkowski. This weekend, she got slammed by the Anchorage Daily News over the growing controversy surrounding a suspect land deal, which was first exposed last week by TPM Muckraker. This story has legs:

Sen. Murkowski's Kenai River land buy looks fishy.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has come under fire for buying a prime Kenai River lot at a cut-rate price from a major campaign contributor. And for good reason. She got a sweet deal from a wealthy political supporter, Anchorage real estate developer Bob Penney.

Sen. Murkowski's husband, Verne Martell, bought the 1.27-acre waterfront lot for $179,000-and-change at the end of 2006, according to spokesman Kevin Sweeney. That was the value assessed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Sweeney told the Daily News on Tuesday.

That might sound like a defensible way to set the price, but in fact, it's not close to the going rate for a lot on the world-famous fishing river.

Three days after the borough recorded the Murkowskis' purchase, the assessed value went up to $214,900. So right off the bat, it looks like she got a discount of 20 percent.

In fact, her friendly political discount was probably far bigger. The online real estate listing service for Alaska has one Kenai riverfront lot. The parcel is only one acre -- a quarter of an acre less than Sen. Murkowski's -- but the asking price is $399,000. Per acre, that's almost three times what the senator paid for hers.

Lisa Murkowski's suspect land deal is featured prominently in today's Anchorage Daily News. And, the paper gives credit where credit is due -- to TPM Muckraker for breaking this story just a couple days ago:

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is drawing criticism this week over Kenai River property she bought late last year from real estate developer and political supporter Bob Penney.

The national political Web log tpmmuckraker.com raised the issue Monday when it quoted government watchdogs questioning whether the senator should do business with Penney, who has also been a business partner with Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

It also questioned whether the sale price -- initially unreported -- was below the market value.

After two days of criticism online and on talk radio, both Penney and a spokesman for Murkowski described the deal as a fair trade between people who chose to become neighbors on the river.

They said Murkowski, R-Alaska, and husband Verne Martell paid Penney the amount of the Kenai Peninsula Borough's most recent assessment on the 1.27 acres: $179,400. Murkowski's spokesman said there was nothing improper about the sale.

This year's borough assessment, completed after the sale, is for $214,900.

The assessed value was a fair selling price, Penney said, adding he sold the land next to his own place because he enjoys fishing with Murkowski's family and wanted them near.

Alaska has three members of its congressional delegation. Senior Senator Ted Stevens is facing an FBI investigation. The only Congressman, Don Young, has a staffer who was convicted in the Abramoff scandal -- and has some sketchy earmarks deals in his history. Now TPM Muckraker reports that the other member of the delegation, Lisa Murkowski, has her own suspect land deal that "raise[s] eyebrows":

Late last year, Alaskan real estate developer Bob Penney testified before a grand jury about his cozy relationship with Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK). But it looks like Penney also has financial ties with Alaska’s other senator: Lisa Murkowski (R). At around the same time, she quietly bought a prime piece of property along the bank of the Kenai River from Penney.

Because of Alaska’s weak records requirements, it’s unclear whether Murkowski got a special deal from Penney. The market value of the 1.27 acre plot is worth around $300,000, according to Kenai real estate agents and locals. Both Penney and Murkowski's office refused to reveal what Murkowski paid.

The arrangement alarms some watchdogs who see ethical and even legal issues stemming from the deal. Ryan Alexander, the director of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said that Penney's history makes it look like he deliberately does business with Alaska politicians with an eye for future gain.

"It raises more than question, it raises concern," said Alexander. "It puts [Murkowski] into that web of folks that has raised eyebrows."

The only available information on Penney’s sale price (land transaction prices are not public record in Alaska) is a Deed of Trust, available here, that shows that Murkowski purchased the riverfront plot in late December of last year with a mortgage of $136,000. A borough assessment values the property at $214,000 – but real estate agents said that is well below what Penney could have fetched. Based on a review of Murkowski's disclosure records, it's unclear if she had enough cash on hand to handle such a large down payment.