Democrat Culture Of Corruption

Disgraced Democrat Indicted In New York

NEW York -- A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political campaigns.SLIDESHOW: Hsu’s Donation RecipientsIn the 15-count indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the government accused the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur of duping investors nationwide with a massive Ponzi scheme.The government said Hsu also violated federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to various political candidates in the names of others.A message left with a lawyer for Hsu was not immediately returned.Federal prosecutors said Hsu hoped his lavish campaign contributions would help draw money to his scheme by raising his public profile.To achieve his aims, prosecutors said, Hsu pressured many of his victims to contribute thousands of dollars to various candidates for president and Congress.According to the California Attorney General's Office, Hsu was the mastermind of a "Ponzi-type" scheme to buy and sell latex gloves that defrauded about 20 investors throughout the state out of approximately $1 million.A Ponzi scheme pays high "profits" to investors using money from new investors to the scheme, without actually generating revenues from any real business.Hsu never showed up for his sentencing in 1992, and eluded authorities for 15 years, later surfacing as a major Democratic Party contributor.On Aug. 31, Hsu surrendered to authorities in Redwood City, only to post $2 million cash bail later that day.He then failed to show up for a scheduled bail hearing and a judge issued a no-bail warrant for his arrest.

High-Level Democratic Donor

According to Federal Election Commission records, a Norman Hsu -- with apparel-related business names and addresses listed in New York and California -- contributed $260,000 to political parties, most since 2004.Recipients included the Democratic Party and Democratic U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Barack Obama, D-Ill., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Hsu was once a valued supporter of Clinton, raising more than $1.2 million for her and other Democratic candidates in recent years.Clinton's presidential campaign returned $850,000 in donations raised by Hsu.Clinton, previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

The FBI is investigating whether Hsu paid so-called straw donors to send campaign contributions to Clinton and other candidates, a law enforcement official has said."In light of recent events and allegations that Mr. Norman Hsu engaged in an illegal investment scheme, we have decided out of an abundance of caution to return the money he raised for our campaign," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement. "An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign."Sen. Barrack Obama's campaign has also returned donations made by Norman Hsu.Wolfson said the Clinton campaign also would vigorously review its fundraisers, including thorough criminal background checks, in the future."In any instances where a source of a bundler's income is in question, the campaign will take affirmative steps to verify its origin," he said.The amount that the campaign identified as raised by Hsu would make him one of her top fundraisers.During the first six months of this year, her presidential campaign raised $52 million from individual contributors, second to Obama, who raised $58.5 million.

Charges: Cheated Investors Out $20 Million

It said Hsu used the ponzi scheme money to further his fraudulent aims, sometimes paying the large interest gains he had promised to those who had invested earliest in the scheme.Prosecutors said he eventually cheated the investors out of at least $20 million.He faces six counts of mail fraud, six counts of wire fraud and three counts of violating the Federal Election Campaign Act.If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each of the mail and wire fraud charges, and five years on each of the federal campaign finance charges.He also could face millions of dollars in fines.Hsu is in custody in California on unrelated charges and was expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan in several weeks, prosecutors said.

Previous Stories:

• October 25, 2007: Clinton Donor Hsu Tries To Have Case Dropped
• September 28, 2007: Hsu's Lawyer Says He Deserves New Trial
• September 26, 2007: Prosecutors, Investors Wrangling Over Hsu
• September 21, 2007: Hsu Ordered Held Without Bail In Redwood City
• September 21, 2007: Norman Hsu Due In Peninsula Court
• September 19, 2007: Dem. Fundraiser Hsu Agrees To Return To Calif.
• September 18, 2007: Clinton Donor Hsu To Waive Extradition Wednesday
• September 13, 2007: Norman Hsu Awaits Extradition Hearing, Bail Set At $5M
• September 10, 2007: Sen. Clinton Returns $850,000 In Hsu Donations
• September 9, 2007: FBI Can't Say When Norman Hsu To Leave Hospital
• September 5, 2007: Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu Is Fugitive Again
• August 31, 2007: Fugitive Democratic Fundraiser Surrenders To Peninsula Police
• August 30, 2007: Clinton Backs Away From Fugitive Donor With Daly City Tie