Democratic Money Trail & Campaign Finance Fraud Investigation

[BNaylor]

Man, this this gets even better or worse depending on your point of view. Check this out.

The newspaper (Wall Street Journal) reports that a company run by Norman Hsu, who donated nearly $2 million to Democratic candidates since 2004 — including presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton — recently received $40 million from a Madison Avenue investment fund run by Joel Rosenman, one of the creators of the fabled Woodstock rock festival in 1969.

Now, that $40 million is missing, Rosenman reportedly told investors this week.

Hsu reportedly told Rosenman the funds provided by Source Financing Investors would be used to manufacture apparel in China for top designers such as Gucci and Prada, and would yield a 40 percent profit, according to documents examined by the newspaper.

Rosenman now says that when Source Financing tried to cash checks from Hsu's company, Components Ltd., the checks bounced.

Rosenman reportedly now wants Hsu to repay the entire $40 million.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296496,00.html

[03cavPA]

We may never know how deep this runs, or how much democratic candidates actually did receive. It will be interesting to see how much this affects the elections, if it has any effect at all.

There's also a possibility that Rosenman sees an opportunity to hide some for himself, especially if no one can find all the money they contributed to Hsu. A bit like claiming that you are missing more than the police say they seized in a raid.

Man, this is starting to sound like a movie script.

[00accord44]

Originally Posted by 03cavPA

We may never know how deep this runs, or how much democratic candidates actually did receive. It will be interesting to see how much this affects the elections, if it has any effect at all.

Barring any evidence of severe misconduct or association with Hsu's seemingly criminal enterprise I don't think this will effect the elections any farther than Hillary or whoever else and the holes created in their advertising and travel budgets.

[BNaylor]

Man, this story just keeps on tickin'.

Hsu reportedly sent copies of a suicide note to several people last Wednesday, then boarded an Amtrak train headed east. Fellow passenger Joanne Segale said Hsu remained locked in his cabin for hours. She finally noticed him wedged in a narrow space next to the door and summoned train personnel for assistance.

"He was very ill, very incoherent," Segale said. "But when they picked him up, he said, 'Am I in jail? Am I in jail?' And they said, 'No, you're not in jail. You're in Colorado.'"

Segale said train crews later found a bottle of prescription medicine and pills scattered around the rail car. Hsu's attorney declined to comment, except to say the hospital had done a "marvelous job" caring for his client at a difficult time.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=14395892

Bundler or bungler? Although he is a crook interesting history on this guy. I wouldn't mind having him on my payroll. j/k.

Democratic Fundraiser Hsu Had Troubled History

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=14432971

[BNaylor]

Well, it looks like the Feds have finally dropped the hammer on poor Norman not to mention he is getting sued big time.

Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu Faces Federal Campaign Finance, Fraud Charges
Thursday, September 20, 2007

NEW YORK — Norman Hsu, one of the top fundraisers for big-name Democrats, was charged Thursday with swindling at least $60 million from investors and using some of his profits to make illegal donations to political campaigns.

Hsu, who was already facing a fifteen-year-old fraud case in California, was charged in New York with what prosecutors called a "massive" Ponzi scheme that ensnared investors across the country.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297482,00.html

California Investment Firm Files Lawsuit Against Democratic Fundraiser Norman Hsu
Saturday, September 22, 2007

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Laguna Beach investment firm filed a lawsuit against Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu on Friday, claiming he defrauded investors out of at least $23 million and required them to donate to Democratic candidates.

According to the lawsuit filed by Briar Wood Investments, Hsu persuaded the company's operator to do business with him by taking him to star-studded Democratic Party events. There, the 56-year-old Hong Kong native was praised by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and others, the lawsuit said.

As a condition of doing business with the fundraiser, Hsu directed investors to make contributions to certain Democratic candidates, the lawsuit said. The investors turned over tens of thousands of dollars, including $30,000 worth of checks to Clinton's campaign on a single day.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal troubles that continue to mount for Hsu.

Last week, New York investors filed a similar suit against Hsu. On Thursday, federal prosecutors unsealed a criminal complaint accusing Hsu of operating a national Ponzi scheme and reimbursing investors for donations made in their names. And on Friday, a San Mateo County judge ordered Hsu held without bail in a 1991 theft case.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297700,00.html