A prominent Democratic party fund-raiser for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton was arrested in Manhattan on Tuesday on charges that he lied about his assets to obtain a $74 million loan from Citibank, the United States Attorney’s office said.
The fund-raiser, Hassan Nemazee, 59, had been a national finance chairman for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign before raising more than $500,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign after the Democratic National Convention last August.
F.B.I. investigators found that Mr. Nemazee, a Park Avenue investor and the chairman and chief executive of Nemazee Capital Corporation, had claimed his assets were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the complaint. In order to secure the loan, Mr. Nemazee submitted fraudulent documents about his holdings to Citibank, offering information for accounts that “never existed or had been closed years before,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Mr. Nemazee, who was charged with one count of bank fraud, appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 30 years and a maximum fine of $1 million.
Mr. Nemazee had been a Democratic fund-raiser since the early 1990s, when he raised money for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. His father was a shipping magnate who later became a diplomat for Iran in Washington, where Mr. Nemazee grew up.
Mr. Nemazee had given more than $450,000 over the years, mostly to Democrats, and entertained President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Senator John Kerry, among others, at his Park Avenue home.
There were questions raised, about his financial dealings in 1998, when Mr. Nemazee was named by Mr. Clinton to be ambassador to Argentina. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee rejected his appointment after Forbes magazine published a scathing article about his business dealings and Republicans questioned his qualifications. Mr. Nemazee subsequently said the accusations against him were baseless.
From Wikipedia -
He was the New York Finance Chair for the Kerry campaign, and is currently the national finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/nyregion/26fraud.html?_r=1&em=&pagewanted=print
LOL
It must be getting bad, the NY Times lists the guy as a democrat in the first sentence. Way to go democrats with that "Hope & Change" thingy.
The fund-raiser, Hassan Nemazee, 59, had been a national finance chairman for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign before raising more than $500,000 for Mr. Obama’s campaign after the Democratic National Convention last August.
F.B.I. investigators found that Mr. Nemazee, a Park Avenue investor and the chairman and chief executive of Nemazee Capital Corporation, had claimed his assets were worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the complaint. In order to secure the loan, Mr. Nemazee submitted fraudulent documents about his holdings to Citibank, offering information for accounts that “never existed or had been closed years before,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
Mr. Nemazee, who was charged with one count of bank fraud, appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 30 years and a maximum fine of $1 million.
Mr. Nemazee had been a Democratic fund-raiser since the early 1990s, when he raised money for the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign. His father was a shipping magnate who later became a diplomat for Iran in Washington, where Mr. Nemazee grew up.
Mr. Nemazee had given more than $450,000 over the years, mostly to Democrats, and entertained President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Senator John Kerry, among others, at his Park Avenue home.
There were questions raised, about his financial dealings in 1998, when Mr. Nemazee was named by Mr. Clinton to be ambassador to Argentina. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee rejected his appointment after Forbes magazine published a scathing article about his business dealings and Republicans questioned his qualifications. Mr. Nemazee subsequently said the accusations against him were baseless.
From Wikipedia -
He was the New York Finance Chair for the Kerry campaign, and is currently the national finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/nyregion/26fraud.html?_r=1&em=&pagewanted=print
LOL
It must be getting bad, the NY Times lists the guy as a democrat in the first sentence. Way to go democrats with that "Hope & Change" thingy.
