Kinde Durkee, once a trusted treasurer to dozens of California Democrats, pleaded guilty in the biggest campaign embezzlement case to hit U.S. politics.
In a federal court in Sacramento, Durkee admitted to stealing more than $7 million from roughly 50 clients during an 11-year period from January 2000 to September 2011.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74685.html#continue
Durkee, 59, was charged with five counts of mail fraud, and federal prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 11 to 14 years. Durkee is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Federal officials said Durkee’s motivation was simply “greed.” Durkee used the millions she stole from lawmakers such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to pay for a variety of personal expenses, including mortgage payments, American Express bills, her mother’s retirement home, payroll for her company, even tickets to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Disneyland.
Because of her excellent reputation among California Democrats, Durkee had easy access to as many as 700 campaign bank accounts. When California state election monitors began looking into funds missing from the campaign account of a local politician, Durkee simply moved money from other lawmakers’ campaigns to cover up her action.
None of the money that Durkee stole has been recovered at this time. But she and her husband have agreed to turn over to the Justice Department property they own in Burbank, which will then sell.
Feinstein and other California Democrats — including Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez and Rep. Susan Davis — have sued her for millions in lost campaign donations.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74685.html
:lol:
Another one bites the dust....
In a federal court in Sacramento, Durkee admitted to stealing more than $7 million from roughly 50 clients during an 11-year period from January 2000 to September 2011.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74685.html#continue
Durkee, 59, was charged with five counts of mail fraud, and federal prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 11 to 14 years. Durkee is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Federal officials said Durkee’s motivation was simply “greed.” Durkee used the millions she stole from lawmakers such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to pay for a variety of personal expenses, including mortgage payments, American Express bills, her mother’s retirement home, payroll for her company, even tickets to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Disneyland.
Because of her excellent reputation among California Democrats, Durkee had easy access to as many as 700 campaign bank accounts. When California state election monitors began looking into funds missing from the campaign account of a local politician, Durkee simply moved money from other lawmakers’ campaigns to cover up her action.
None of the money that Durkee stole has been recovered at this time. But she and her husband have agreed to turn over to the Justice Department property they own in Burbank, which will then sell.
Feinstein and other California Democrats — including Reps. Loretta and Linda Sanchez and Rep. Susan Davis — have sued her for millions in lost campaign donations.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74685.html
:lol:
Another one bites the dust....