Former U.S. House Speaker Hastert pleads not guilty on federal charges

CHICAGO - Former U.S House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to federal charges of trying to hide large cash transactions and lying to the FBI about it.

Hastert's attorneys entered the plea on his behalf in a brief arraignment hearing before Judge Thomas Durkin in the federal courthouse in Chicago. Durkin set a $4,500 appearance bond for Hastert and ordered him to surrender his passport and remove firearms from his property as conditions of pre-trial release.

Law enforcement officials have said Hastert was using the money to try to cover up sexual abuse of a male decades ago when the congressman worked as a high school wrestling coach and teacher, according to media reports.

Hastert led the House for eight years before leaving Congress in 2007. He was the longest-serving Republican speaker.

After the indictment, Hastert resigned from the Dickstein Shapiro lobbying firm in Washington, where he worked, and from the boards of exchange operator CME Group Inc and REX American Resources.

His alma mater, Wheaton College in suburban Chicago, removed his name from its policy center.

According to the indictment, Hastert withdrew $1.7 million in cash from his bank accounts from 2010 to 2014. He is charged with 'structuring” $952,000 of those withdrawals, taking the funds out in increments of under $10,000 to evade the requirement that banks report large cash transactions.

Hastert then told the FBI that he was keeping the cash for himself, which the indictment said was a false statement.

The person receiving the payments has yet to be identified. But another possible victim has emerged. The sister of a student at Yorkville High School told ABC News on Friday Hastert had sexually abused her brother, who is now deceased.