BUSINESSMAN ADMITS TO USING STRAW DONORS TO FUNNEL MONEY TO POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Hotel Magnate Pleads Guilty to Federal Election Campaign Spending Limits Evasion Scheme and Witness Tampering

Sant Singh Chatwal, 70, of New York – a businessman operating several restaurants, hotels and a hotel management company – pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of New York to conspiring to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act (the “Election Act”) by making more than $180,000 in federal campaign donations to three candidates through straw donors who were reimbursed and to witness tampering.   There is no allegation that the candidates participated in, or were aware of, Chatwal’s scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Loretta E. Lynch of the Eastern District of New York, Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos of the FBI’s New York Field Office and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation made the announcement.

The guilty plea proceeding took place before United States District Judge I. Leo Glasser of the Eastern District of New York.   As part of his plea agreement with the government, Chatwal agreed to forfeit $1 million to the United States.

“Chatwal admitted that he used straw donors to secretly funnel money to political campaigns so that he could gain access to the politicians, and he coerced another person to hide his crime,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General O’Neil.  “Chatwal went to great lengths to undermine both election laws and our system of justice.  Today’s guilty plea shows our vigilance and determination to prosecute those who damage the integrity of elections by masking the true sources of campaign contributions.”

“The Election Act’s spending limits are in place to limit financial influence in federal elections and to ensure transparency as to the identity of donors,” said U.S. Attorney Lynch.   “Chatwal’s scheme sought to subvert the very purpose of the Election Act.   Chatwal then rolled the dice to stymie the government’s investigation, thinking he could corruptly convince witnesses to his federal election crimes to stay silent.   That gamble did not pay off.   Today’s conviction sends a clear message that this office is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting individuals who are responsible for committing crimes in connection with federal campaign donations and witness tampering.”

“Attempting to buy elections through illegal campaign contributions is unacceptable. It is also illegal,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos.   “Americans rightfully expect that elections will be free and fair. The FBI will continue investigating every case of abuse, wherever we find it.”

“Mr. Chatwal admitted his actions were designed to circumvent the Election Act,” said IRS-CI Chief Weber.  “IRS-CI's ability to adapt our financial investigative skills to cases where they are needed uniquely equips our agents to defend and uphold America's trust in the fairness of the electoral process.”

The Election Act limits the amount and source of money that can be contributed to a federal candidate or to an individual candidate’s political campaign committee and multi-candidate political campaign committees, commonly referred to as “political action committees” (PACs).   For example, in 2008, the Election Act limited primary and general election campaign contributions in a calendar year to $2,300 per campaign, for a total of $4,600, from any one individual to any one candidate.   In 2010, the Election Act limited primary and general election campaign contributions in a calendar year to $2,400 per campaign, for a total of $4,800, from any one individual to any one candidate.   The Election Act also prohibits making a campaign contribution in the name of another person, including giving funds to a “straw donor,” or a conduit, for the purpose of having the straw donor pass the funds to a federal candidate as the straw donor’s own contribution.

According to court filings and facts presented during the plea proceeding, Chatwal operated several businesses, including restaurants, hotels, and a hotel management company.   From 2007 to 2011, Chatwal used his employees, business associates, and contractors who performed work on his hotels (the “Chatwal Associates”) to solicit campaign contributions on Chatwal’s behalf in support of various candidates for federal office and PACs, collect these contributions, and pay reimbursements for these contributions.

Further according to court filings, Chatwal and the Chatwal Associates induced straw donors to make these campaign contributions, promising them that they would be reimbursed.   Chatwal orchestrated a scheme to make approximately $188,000 in campaign contributions to three candidates for federal office via straw donors, and he often arranged for the straw donors to be reimbursed through the Chatwal Associates, ultimately paying for the reimbursed contributions with funds belonging to Chatwal or one of Chatwal’s companies.

The evidence against Chatwal includes an October 2010 recorded conversation between Chatwal and a business associate who became an informant, in which Chatwal underscored his view as to the importance of political campaign contributions, stating that without campaign contributions, “nobody will even talk to you…That’s the only way to buy them, get into the system… What, what else is there?  That’s the only thing.”

Also according to court filings, Chatwal sought to obstruct the grand jury investigation into his Election Act scheme by tampering with a witness, a person whose business performed construction work for Chatwal and Chatwal’s companies and who had recruited straw donors at Chatwal’s direction.   In a June 2012 recorded conversation, Chatwal told the individual that if FBI and IRS agents approached him or his family, they should not speak with the agents and should instead refer them to a lawyer Chatwal would provide.   During this conversation, the individual said that he would not tell agents that Chatwal gave him money to reimburse straw donors.  Chatwal replied, “Never, never.”

A few days later, in a July 2012 recorded conversation, Chatwal directed the same individual to lie to agents about the Election Act scheme.   Chatwal said he would pay for the individual’s legal fees in connection with the investigation and offered to conceal the money within a payment for work the individual’s company had performed for Chatwal.   During the conversation, they discussed that investigators were seeking copies of campaign checks in the individual’s possession, and they then discussed that it was helpful that some of the straw donors had been reimbursed with cash.   Chatwal added, “Cash has no proof.”

The case was investigated by the FBI’s New York Field Office and the IRS-CI.   The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Marquest Meeks of Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin Coffey, Carolyn Pokorny, Robert Capers and Brian Morris of the Eastern District of New York.

THREE FORMER UBS EXECUTIVES CONVICTED FOR FRAUD

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012　
WASHINGTON — A federal jury in New York City today convicted three former financial services executives for their participation in frauds related to bidding for contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other municipal finance contracts, the Department of Justice announced.

Peter Ghavami, Gary Heinz and Michael Welty, all former UBS AG executives, were found guilty on conspiracy and fraud charges in the U.S. District Court in New York City. Ghavami was found guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of substantive wire fraud. Heinz was found guilty on three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of substantive wire fraud. Welty was found guilty on three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Heinz was found not guilty on one count of witness tampering and Welty was found not guilty on one count of substantive wire fraud.

The trial began on July 30, 2012. Ghavami, Heinz and Welty were initially indicted on Dec. 9, 2010.

"For years, these executives corrupted the competitive bidding process and defrauded municipalities across the country out of money for important public works projects," said Scott D. Hammond, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division’s criminal enforcement program. "Today’s convictions demonstrate that the division is committed to holding accountable those who seek to unfairly and illegally undermine competitive markets."

According to evidence presented at trial, while employed at UBS, Ghavami, Heinz and Welty participated in separate fraud conspiracies and schemes with various financial institutions and with a broker, at various time periods from as early as March 2001 until at least November 2006. These financial institutions, or providers, offered a type of contract—known as an investment agreement— to state, county and local governments and agencies, and not-for-profit entities, throughout the United States. The public entities were seeking to invest money from a variety of sources, primarily the proceeds of municipal bonds that they had issued to raise money for, among other things, public projects. Public entities typically hire a broker to assist them in investing their money and to conduct a competitive bidding process to determine the winning provider.

According to evidence presented at trial, while acting as providers, Ghavami, Heinz and Welty, with their provider and broker co-conspirators, corrupted the bidding process for more than a dozen investment agreements to increase the number and profitability of the agreements awarded to UBS. At other times, while acting as brokers, Ghavami, Heinz, Welty and their co-conspirators arranged for UBS to receive kickbacks in exchange for manipulating the bidding process and steering investment agreements to certain providers.

Ghavami, Heinz and Welty deprived the municipalities of competitive interest rates for the investment of tax-exempt bond proceeds that were to be used by municipalities to refinance outstanding debt and for various public works projects, such as for building or repairing schools, hospitals and roads. Evidence at trial established that they cost municipalities around the country and the U.S. Treasury millions of dollars.

During the trial, the government presented specific evidence relating to approximately 26 corrupted bids and approximately 76 recorded conversations made by the co-conspirator financial institutions. Among the issuers and not-for-profit entities whose agreements or contracts were subject to the defendants' schemes were the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the New Mexico Educational Assistance Foundation, the Tobacco Settlement Financing Corporation of Rhode Island and the RWJ Health Care Corp at Hamilton.

"Corrupt bidding schemes serve to weaken the public’s trust in the municipal bond market and prevent public entities from enjoying the benefits of a true competitive bidding process," said Mary E. Galligan, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in New York. "Today’s conviction is further proof of our efforts to weed out these corrupt criminals and ensure justice is served."

Today's verdict is important because it confirms that these complex, seemingly uninteresting backroom deals have a real impact on taxpayers, who should benefit from a municipal bond issue and are ultimately responsible for paying it off," said Richard Weber, Chief, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). "Today’s convictions send a strong message to the municipal bond industry and demonstrates the commitment of the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department to rid the industry of corrupt practices."

A total of 20 individuals have been charged as a result of the department’s ongoing municipal bonds investigation. Including today’s convictions, a total of 19 individuals have been convicted or pleaded guilty, and one awaits trial. Additionally, one company has pleaded guilty.

Two of charged fraud conspiracies carry a maximum penalty per count of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. A third fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty per count of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. These maximum fines per count may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either amount is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The verdict announced today resulted from an ongoing investigation conducted by the Antitrust Division’s New York and Chicago Offices, the FBI and the IRS-CI. The division is coordinating its investigation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

AMERICAN SAMOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICIAL SENTENCED TO PRISON

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, June 8, 2012
American Samoa Department of Education Official Sentenced to 35 Months in Prison for Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice
WASHINGTON – Paul Solofa, the former chief financial officer for the Department of Education for the government of the U.S. Territory of American Samoa was sentenced today to 35 months in prison following his conviction earlier this year for his efforts to obstruct a federal grand jury and law enforcement investigation into a bribery scheme, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton in the District of Columbia.  After a four-day trial in January 2012, a federal jury in the District of Columbia found Solofa, 50, guilty of one count of witness tampering and one count of obstruction of justice.

According to evidence presented at trial, in approximately early 2008, federal authorities began conducting an investigation into allegations of cash bribes and kickbacks paid by vendors to officials of the American Samoa Government in connection with the government’s purchase of school bus parts and services.

According to the trial evidence, Solofa met on April 3, 2009, with a school bus parts vendor who told Solofa that the FBI was interested in interviewing the vendor regarding the bus parts investigation.  Solofa, in a recorded meeting, allegedly told the vendor that, “They cannot do anything with cash.  Nothing.  They cannot do anything with cash.  They cannot track down you on cash.  Because even if you say you gave me cash I'll tell them ‘no.’  They cannot take your word on cash.  Because that’s hearsay.  So you know, but the best thing for you to do is ‘nope, I never give them any cash, I never’ – because that will open up the whole operation . . . You get what I am saying.  All you do is just tell them ‘no, yes, no, yes,’ period.”

In addition, according to the evidence presented at trial, Solofa met on April 14, 2009, with the same bus parts vendor, who told Solofa that a grand jury subpoena requiring production of specific documents and records, some of which related to Solofa and to the bus parts kickback scheme, would be issued shortly.  After discussing how to respond, Solofa told the vendor that, as for documents he did not want to produce, “[t]he only way to do it with those copies is burn it.  That way, they won’t see it, and you won’t worry that they might see it, you know. . . .  Just burn it, and nobody has a copy.”

The head of the School Bus Division for the American Samoa Department of Education, Gustav Nauer, 47, was also convicted for his role in the bribery scheme.  On June 4, 2012, Nauer was sentenced to 25 months in prison.

This case was prosecuted by Principal Deputy Chief Raymond N. Hulser and Trial Attorney Tim Kelly of the Public Integrity Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  The case was investigated by the FBI; the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Education; and the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

KENTUCKY SHERIFF AND HIS DEPUTIES INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY BEATING A MAN AND LYING

The  following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

Wednesday, February 15, 2012
“WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Kentucky returned a 10-count indictment against Barren County Sheriff Christopher Eaton and Sheriff’s Deputies Danny McCown, Aaron Bennett, Adam Minor and Eric Guffey.

The indictment charges that the defendants used unreasonable force on and injured a man they captured following a vehicle pursuit on Feb. 24, 2011, thereby violating his civil rights.  According to the indictment, the defendants assaulted and aided and abetted others in assaulting the victim. Eaton further failed to prevent officers under his command from assaulting the victim.

The indictment also charges each defendant with making false statements to the FBI concerning the assault.   In addition, Eaton was charged with falsifying police reports in an effort to cover up the assault, and for tampering with a witness by directing him to create a false report concerning the incident.

The civil rights charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count, and the false statements charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.   Additionally, Eaton faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of witness tampering and for falsification of reports.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Roy Conn and Sanjay Patel of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

An indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.”