Funny how people in glass houses often throw stones.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/26/hsu_raised_big_money_for_clinton_supporters/Hsu raised big money for Clinton supporters
Candidates she courted benefit
By Scott Helman, Globe Staff | September 26, 2007
Disgraced fund-raiser Norman Hsu did a lot more than just pump $850,000 into Hillary Clinton's campaign bank account: He also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local, state, and federal candidates who have endorsed Clinton or whose support she courted.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts A major fund-raiser for Democrats since 2003, Hsu became one of Clinton's biggest bundlers - gathering scores of individual checks and sending them to her campaign. But since revelations last month that Hsu was a fugitive in a 15-year-old California fraud case, Clinton has said she would return the $850,000 she has taken from him and his associates. (snip)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Hsu Ponzi scheme conviction and flight
Hsu was able to gain the trust of investors by his dress, by his warm and personable manner, by his educational credentials, by being quoted in trade magazines, and by the long list of business under his name, but had a record of changing addresses and leaving disappointed investors behind.<2> Starting in 1989, Hsu raised $1 million from investors to launch a latex glove business. Some of these partners invested their life savings or mortgaged their homes, and some sued Hsu when it appeared their money was lost.<2> In 1990, Hsu, then living in Foster City, California, declared a bankruptcy,<20> stating that he was practically destitute, with no job, no income, and few possessions other than an SUV and a ring.<2> That same year, he was also divorced<2> as well as allegedly kidnapped<20> by San Francisco Triad society gang leader Raymond Kwok Chow.<21><22> In 1991, California authorities brought fraud charges against him, describing his operation as a Ponzi scheme. Specifically, authorities claimed Hsu had not engaged in any legitimate business activity, but instead was using funds from later investors to pay returns to earlier ones.<17> In February 1992 Hsu plead no contest to one count of grand theft and agreed to serve up to three years in prison and pay a $10,000 fine.<20> Hsu subsequently failed to appear at the sentencing hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.<4>
Hsu fled to Hong Kong and lived there from 1992 to 1996 while working in the garment industry.<17><19><20> He started at least two companies there, both with vague charters.<2> Aided by what others described as a magnetic personality, he prospered for a while, living in a luxury building.<2> However the companies were dissolved in 1997 and 1998, and by 1998 Hong Kong courts had declared Hsu once again bankrupt.<2> He would not emerge from this Hong Kong bankruptcy until 2006.<23>
snip..... Entry into politics
Hsu then returned to the United States in the late 1990s,<23> despite his fugitive status, and established several addresses in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas.<2> He became an investor in Silicon Valley,<20> invested in real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area,<2> and still had engagements in the garment industry.<2> He later relocated to New York, where he seemed to become involved in the apparel business once again<23> and lived in a luxury apartment in SoHo while flying chartered jets.<23>
Starting in 2003, Hsu began contributing to, and collecting contributions for, the Democratic Party,<17><19><23><24> although he did not join the party and was not registered to vote.<25><26> He also donated to causes such as the Innocence Project and Clinton Global Initiative.<2> He also became a trustee of The New School in New York, to whom he donated $100,000 and provided the money for a scholarship.<27> Democratic Party figures did not know much about him or his businesses, but appreciated his support;<2> he became known to them as someone who could quickly raise large amounts of money,<23> and as someone who networked tirelessly and always found ways to be included in high-profile events.<28> By 2007, Hsu's status within Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign had risen to the level where he was a "HillRaiser",<23><29> someone who had "bundled" more than $100,000 for her campaign, and to where he co-hosted a $1 million fundraiser at wealthy Democratic Party supporter Ron Burkle's Beverly Hills estate,<3> and in September, he was scheduled to co-host a major gala fundraising event featuring music legend Quincy Jones.<17>...snip
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