Tinitcd ~Ultcs ~Cnatc SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, RHODE ISLAND TOM COBURN, OKLAHOMA AMY KLOBUCHAR, MINNESOTA COMMITIEE on the JUDICIARY EDWARD E

PATRICK J. LEAHY, VERMONT, CHAIRMAN

HERB KOHL, WISCONSIN JEFF SESSIONS, ALABAMA DIANNE FEINSTEIN, CALIFORNIA ORRIN G. HATCH, UTAH RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, WISCONSIN CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, IOWA CHARLES E. SCHUMER, NEW YORK JON KYL, ARIZONA RICHARD J. DURBIN, ILLINOIS LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, MARYLAND JOHN CORNYN, TEXAS tinitcd ~Ultcs ~cnatc SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, RHODE ISLAND TOM COBURN, OKLAHOMA AMY KLOBUCHAR, MINNESOTA COMMITIEE ON THE JUDICIARY EDWARD E. KAUFMAN, DELAWARE ARLEN SPECTER, PENNSYLVANIA WASHINGTON, DC 20510-6275 AL FRANKEN, MINNESOTA

BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel and Staff Director BRIAN A. BENCZKOWSKI, Republican Staff Director

June 9, 2010

The Honorable Robert Mueller Director Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

Dear Director Mueller:

Attached is a news account asserting that the FBI paid $25,000 to Joran van der Sloot, the suspect in the murders of Nata lee Holloway and Stephany Flores Ramirez, as part of an undercover investigation. I would appreciate you providing me an explanation of exactly what happened in this case and the basis for all actions taken by the FBI. Thank you for your prompt response.

Sincerely, FBI gave $25,000 to van der Sloot in attempted sting, official says - CNN.com Page 1 of2

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FBI gave $25,000 to van der Sioot in attempted sti ng, official says

STORY HIGHLIGHTS • Source confirmed FBI gave initial payment to Van der Sioot of $1 0,000 • The FBI wired $15,000 to van der Sioot, the source told CNN • U.S. authorities last week announced arrest warrant for van der Sioot • Interpol: Information van der Sioot gave in exchange for the money was false

Peruvian officials say Joran van der Sloat has confessed to the slaying of Stephany Flores Ramirez. What will this development mean for the Natalee Holloway case? Watch "Nancy Grace," at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday on HLN.

(CNN) -- The FBI paid Joran van der Sioot $25,000 in an undercover investigation of a plot to extort money from Natalee Holloway's mother, a federal law enforcement official told CNN Wednesday.

The FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office in Alabama arranged for a meeting where an undercover agent paid van der Sioot $10,000 in cash and another $15,000 in a wire transfer for information van der Sioot allegedly promised would lead to Holloway's body in Aruba, a source familiar with the case said. The meeting took place in May, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Alabama.

Interpol documents show that the $15,000 was transferred to a personal bank account in the Netherlands.

It's unclear if that money funded van der Sloot's trip to Colombia and into Peru where authorities said he confessed this week to killing 21- year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez.

Members of Flores' family told CNN they knew days ago that the FBI had paid van der Sioot.

'We really don't have anything to say about it or what could have happened if we knew this information," said brother Enrique Flores, speaking by phone from Peru.

"It won't make any change today. Her mom is praying every day. We are not having contact with a lot of people. We want to be left alone."

Van der Sioot, a Dutch citizen, was twice arrested in connection with the 2005 disappearance of Holloway but was released for lack of evidence.

The information van der Sioot provided to the FBI was not true, according to an Interpol document obtained by CNN Wednesday.

This week Alabama authorities filed extortion and wire fraud charges against van der Sioot.

On or about March 29, van der Sioot contacted a representative of Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, the Intepol document states.

That came as a shock to Natalee Holloway's father Dave Holloway.

CNN spoke with his attorney Vinda de Sousa in Aruba Wednesday.

"He didn't know about it ... and he just didn't have very much to say about it because he was not involved," the attorney said.

In exchange for payment, van der Sioot showed a person described in Interpol documents as Beth Holloway's representative, a house in Aruba where supposedly Holloway's remains were located.

When records showed that the house wasn't even built at the time of her disappearance, van der Sioot admitted he lied, Interpol said. http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability .com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=FBI +gave+%2425%2COOO... 6/9/2010 FBI gave $25,000 to van der 8loot in attempted sting, official says - CNN.com Page 2 of2 L

Aruban authorities were involved in the FBI's undercover investigation, Aruban government spokesman Taco Stein said.

'We did some technical work" and "worked together," Stein said.

CNN's Terry Frieden, Kim Segal and Ashley Fantz contributed to this report.

Find this article at: http://www.enn.comI2010/CRIMEl06/09/us.van.der.sI00t.alabamalindex.html?hpt=T1

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http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.comlptlcpt?action=cpt&title=FBI +gave+%2425%2COOO... 6/9/2010