Washington  - Louisiana voters Saturday sent the first Vietnamese-American to Congress, Anh "Joseph" Cao, a Republican who defeated a nine-term incumbent African-American congressman, the Times Picayune reported Saturday.

Cao defeated William Jefferson, 61, a Democrat who is under indictment on charges of corruption, bribery and racketeering that involved US companies and countries across a wide swathe of Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, and Botswana.

Cao, 41, a lawyer, emigrated to the United States at age 8 as Saigon fell to the communists.

Cao took 60 per cent of the vote compared to 47 per cent for Jefferson from the largely African-American district which covers much of New Orleans. About two-thirds of the district's voters are registered as Democrats.

The election came more than a month after national presidential and congressional elections, due to delays caused by the hurricane season in primary elections.

Jefferson has denied any guilt in the corruption charges.

Federal prosecutors charge that Jefferson collected bribes of more than 400,000 dollars from US companies - some of it to be paid to a vice president of Nigeria - to feather his own accounts and his family's nest through a special company set up to accept the bribes, US prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Jefferson had attempted to extort up to 8 million dollars in cash and company stocks in the course of his alleged crimes from 2000 to 2005.

At one point, FBI investigators found 90,000 dollars in cash stored in Jefferson's home freezer, wrapped in tin foil and hidden inside food containers.

Jefferson claims that the "90,000 dollars was the FBI's money as part of its plan ... that I would give it to the Nigerian vice president." He said he never passed on the money.

In exchange for the bribes, Jefferson allegedly led official business delegations to Africa in ventures that included telecommunications deals in Nigeria and Ghana, oil concessions in Equatorial Guinea, and satellite transmission contracts in Botswana, according to a statement about the indictment from the Department of Justice.

Other deals involved in the case included offshore rights in Sao Tome and Principe, promotion and sale of waste recycling systems in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea and development of a sugar plant in Nigeria, justice officials said. (dpa)