Reading

Accounting Scandal Comes to Light: Senator Arrested on Fraud Charges

Before you start reading, study the following vocabulary: 

Arrest
Flames
Redirect
Estimates
Unaccounted for
Claim 
Appear 
 

At just after 7:00pm last night, local police arrested Senator John Allen in connection with the accounting scandal that was recently uncovered while the government was auditing the state's largest banks and other financial institutions. According to police sources, Allen, 58, the current head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was burning important documents and other evidence when police entered his Virginia home. "When we kicked in the door, he was standing next to a big fireplace in the living room, and was throwing papers and computer disks into the flames as fast as he could," said Richmond Police Officer Tim Wright. The Senator explained that he "was just tidying up" when police arrived, but a further search of the house showed that he was clearly destroying records of stolen and misused government funds. Many of the documents dated back ten years or more, to a time when Allen was working on the Senate Finance Committee. Police believe that Allen began taking advantage of his position then, and was redirecting funds into personal accounts for a total of 12 years before taking a new position. It will be weeks before investigators know the true size of Allen's crime, but early estimates say that he stole approximately 35 million dollars while he was serving as a senator. More than half of the funds are still unaccounted for. Meanwhile, as police were ransacking Allen's home, FBI and Treasury Department agents were checking his downtown offices. They claim to have evidence linking Allen to "Tiny" Tony Tarrino, the notorious New York mafia boss, who is suspected in five unsolved murders. When asked about this, Tarrino responded, "Hey, I never met that guy in my life, I'm a respectable businessman." Allen replied with a simple, "No comment." Allen is due to appear in court in two weeks.

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Questions

Choose the correct explanation for the following phrases...
  1. "Accounting scandal comes to light" means: 
  2. "taking advantage of his position" means: 
  3. "notorious" means: 
  4. "police were ransacking Allen's home" means:
  5. "recently uncovered" means: 
Are the following statements about the reading true?

1.   Allen works on the Senate Finance Committee.

2.   Allen tried to run from the police but was caught.

3.   Tarrino claims that he doesn't know Allen.

4.   Tarrino was in prison for five murders.

5.   The police didn't find any of the money yet