Hsu begins trial over campaign contributions

Former top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu used his associations with famous political families like the Clintons and the Kennedys to polish his image and attract investors to his financial frauds, a prosecutor told a jury at the opening of a trial Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rua Kelly told the jury in Manhattan that it will see photographs of Hsu with famous politicians and will hear his former investors describe being pressured by Hsu to make political donations in their names that they would be reimbursed for.

The prosecutor said Hsu used that method to dodge campaign donation laws restricting how much a candidate can receive from a single contributor.

Hsu's trial comes just days after he pleaded guilty to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud, admitting that he cheated investors of at least $20 million in a Ponzi scheme in which he paid off early investors with the proceeds he collected from later investors. It also comes about 16 months after he was sentenced in a Redwood City courtroom for a grand theft case that dated back to the early 1990s.

His lawyer, Alan Seidler, described the plea to the jury and noted that his 58-year-old client faces 200 years in prison on those charges alone.

The mention of the potential penalty drew an objection from prosecutors that was sustained by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.

Seidler, though, had made his point and continued to cast his client in a more sympathetic light, saying the campaign contributions were made willingly by investors eager to impress Hsu "because they were greedy and frankly dumb."

"These people were blinded by greed," Seidler told the jury.

The prosecution told the jury that Hsu ripped off investors for nearly a decade with a variety of claims, including that he operated a business that provided short-term loans at high-interest rates to businesses and that he also invested in clothing and technology companies.

Kelly said he failed to invest their money, instead using it to pay off earlier investors or to live a lavish lifestyle that included lots of jewelry, fine wines and champagne, vintage clothing and four-star restaurants.

Kelly said many of his victims had no idea they were violating the law when they allowed Hsu to reimburse them for their political donations.

Seidler said Hsu donated about $850,000 of his own money to political candidates and helped raise another $1 million for Democratic candidates through about 75 people he knew who also made contributions. He said Hsu gave $3.5 million more to charitable causes.

After Hsu's 2007 arrest, Hillary Rodham Clinton returned more than $800,000 to donors whose contributions were linked to him.


This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Views: 52

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Marjory Taylor Green Proposes Bill Abolishing Geoengineering or Weather Modification
" Marjory Taylor green has spent months researching weather modification and it's hard to…"
1 hour ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
15 hours ago
Burbia posted a video

A few reasons I don’t like jews. It’s not complicated.

These are the reasons I became antisemitic. It’s not complicated. Sure, I could go on for days, weeks, months outlining everything, but I don’t need to. This...
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Less Prone, Thanks Buddy! I'd like to volunteer as a historical reconstructionist! "
yesterday
Less Prone left a comment for t.me/TheIntelligenceLibrary
"Welcome to a revolutionary concept in public communication, the truth."
yesterday
pohonemas33 team is now a member of 12160 Social Network
yesterday
Less Prone favorited cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
yesterday
tjdavis's 2 blog posts were featured
yesterday
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
yesterday
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
"Some incredible pieces of history!"
yesterday
Less Prone favorited Doc Vega's blog post Unusual Discoveries and Headlines
yesterday
tjdavis posted a blog post
Sunday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

First Week of July 1947 an Inflexion Point for Humanity!

The year is 1947 and sometime around July 4th the anniversary of the birth our nation, when a…See More
Saturday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Government Issued Wearables? What’s Wrong With this Picture?
"cheeki kea Ha! Good one!"
Friday
tjdavis posted a video

This is Paris Now… You Won’t See This in the Tourist Brochures

In this video, I take you through Marché Barbès and its surrounding neighbourhoods — an area that reflects the modern, complex face of Paris most tourists ne...
Friday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Trump's Big Beautiful Bill Passes Amidst Democrat Lies About a Tax cut for the Rich Being Averted

AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.It’s over, folks. President Trump and congressional Republicans aimed to…See More
Thursday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Government Issued Wearables? What’s Wrong With this Picture?
"I wonder what wearables must have been like before the last reset. "
Jul 2
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Jul 1
Doc Vega commented on tjdavis's blog post National Blueprint For Biodefense
"Another scare tactic to push people into anew regime of vaccinations! Either that, or this is a…"
Jul 1

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted