JURIST - Paper Chase: Democratic Party fundraiser convicted for campaign finance violations

[JURIST] Disgraced Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu [JURIST news archive] was convicted Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] on charges of violating the Federal Elections Campaign Act (FECA) [text]. Hsu was accused of making illegal campaign contributions in other peoples' names in violation of the FECA. According to the indictment [text; JURIST report], Hsu also allegedly pressured clients to donate to his preferred democratic candidates and threatened to cut them off if they did not comply with his wishes. Sentencing was scheduled [Los Angeles Times report] for August 19.

In September 2007, New York prosecutors charged [JURIST report] Hsu with orchestrating a $60 million Ponzi scheme in connection with the same events. Hsu pleaded guilty [NYT report] to those fraud charges last week. The FBI arrested [press release] Hsu in Colorado on federal charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution after Hsu failed to appear for a bail hearing in California on unrelated fraud charges on September 5, 2007. Hsu formerly raised funds for political candidates, including Sen. Hillary Clinton. Clinton agreed to return $850,000 she received from Hsu when news of the charges became public.

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