Posted on 09/03/2007 2:38:19 PM PDT by Libloather
Sant Chatwal courts controversy for helping Hillary
By Arun Kumar, Washington, Sep 3 : Indian American businessman Sant Chatwal helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Clinton's campaigns even as he battled to escape bankruptcy and millions of dollars in tax liens, the Washington Post alleged Monday.
The founder of the Bombay Palace restaurant chain, Chatwal is one of a growing number of fundraisers in the 2008 presidential campaign whose backgrounds have prompted questions about how much screening the candidates devote to their "bundlers" while they press to raise record amounts, the daily said.
Chatwal's case reached from India to New York City. The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pursued him for about $4 million in unpaid business taxes, while New York state placed a lien seeking more than $5 million in taxes, it said.
He forfeited a building to New York City on which he was delinquent on property taxes and was sued by federal regulators seeking to recoup millions from a failed bank where he served as a director.
Across the ocean, three Indian banks forced him into US bankruptcy, and he was charged with bank fraud. He was out on bond when he showed up in India in 2001 during a visit by his long time friend Bill Clinton, the Post said.
Yet none of the legal and financial woes - touched on in American or Indian newspapers or highlighted by opponents - raised red flags inside Democrat Hillary Clinton's fundraising operation, it said. Chatwal recently said he plans to help raise $5 million from Indian Americans for Clinton's presidential bid, the daily said.
According to the Post, asked whether anything in Chatwal's background caused concerns about his activities on behalf of the campaign, Clinton spokesman Phil Singer answered, "No". He declined last week to be more specific, saying only that major fundraisers are routinely vetted "through publicly available records".
It also cited Rajen Anand, a long time friend of Chatwal and another Clinton fundraiser, as saying that the campaign encourages strict vetting for fundraisers. "They advise me to be very careful not to associate the campaign with people where there is something wrong," he said.
Anand said, however, that Chatwal may have slid through any vetting because of his long time friendship with the Clintons. The Clintons maintained a close association with Chatwal; both attended one of his sons' weddings in 2002, and the former president attended another son's wedding in 2006.
While Chatwal raised money for Clinton's New York Senate and presidential campaigns and Bill Clinton's charitable efforts, he settled the regulatory and tax cases one by one, mostly by working out plans to pay portions of the debts. He resolved the last of them this spring.
"The man came to this country, accumulated an empire, lost it during the time of real estate, and has struggled and worked to try to pay off his debts," said the Post citing A. Mitchell Greene, Chatwal's lawyer for 25 years. "It has been a long battle, but he has cleared up all of his obligations, and in the process he is trying to accumulate his wealth again."
Chatwal saw his fortunes sour when he began dabbling in New York real estate just as the market softened. He was forced into bankruptcy in 1995 by three Indian banks that claimed he owed them millions.
During the 1990s, the IRS and New York City and state tax authorities also pursued liens, and Chatwal worked out deals to pay them back. When the rents from one apartment building he bought no longer covered the real estate taxes, Chatwal turned over the building to New York City to resolve a reported $2 million tax lien, his lawyer said.
In 1997, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sued Chatwal over his role as a director and a guarantor of unpaid loans at the failed First New York Bank for Business. The government alleged that his loans had "resulted in losses to the bank in excess of $12 million", and it questioned his claims that he could not repay the debts. The regulators also questioned why he continued to rent a spacious penthouse in the midst of his turmoil.
In September 2000, Chatwal hosted a half-million dollar fundraiser at that Upper East Side penthouse for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign. A few months later the FDIC abruptly settled the case, agreeing on Dec 18, 2000, to let him pay $125,000 for the loans.
The Post cited Greene as saying he believed that the actual losses caused by the loans were smaller but agreed that the bankruptcy resulted in a much smaller settlement. The lawyer also said there was nothing wrong with Chatwal raising political money even as he worked to clear up the legal and financial matters.
On Friday, another major 2008 Clinton fundraiser generated fresh headlines:
Norman Hsu surrendered to authorities in San Mateo, California, on an outstanding warrant in a 15-year-old California criminal case involving allegations of grand theft. A judge ordered him held on $2 million bail until a hearing next week.
The Clinton camp said it had no way of knowing about the warrant, which was not listed in publicly accessible records.
Former President Bill Clinton said he was "shocked" by revelations that a top fundraiser for his wife is a fugitive from justice and claimed he didn't even know what "Hill Raiser" Norman Hsu did for a living, Newsday reported.
page 9
Mr. Sant Chatwal President & CEO Hampshire Hotel & Resorts, LLC.
The article says this was reported in the Washington Post today? Anyone see it?
Found it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/02/AR2007090201436.html?hpid=topnews
Oh,... sorry for a minute there I thought I was at the Naughty Teacher's ping list?
How many Chatwals, Hsus, Peter Pauls, & Marc Richs does it take to equal ONE Abramoff???
“How many Chatwals, Hsus, Peter Pauls, & Marc Richs does it take to equal ONE Abramoff???”
I just sent an email to Special Report asking a similar question.
. . . clear-UP your money woe$
host a Clinton fundraiser , .. {{ I’m sure its not quite that simple }}
but there sure are recurrent appearances of FEC transgressions on the part of Sir Edmund Hillary Clinton
(( but we’re told she doesn’t know what goes on in her campaign ))
Here’s a sampling of his NY judgment portfolio. All told he has almost 200 judgments and tax liens to his account. I would say this makes him uniquely qualified to be a member of HRC inner sanctum of donors.
1. 23RD STREET HODING CO CROSSLAND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 10/25/1993
2. 23RD STREET HOLDING CO CROSSLAND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/20/1993
3. 23RD STREET HOLDING CO CROSSLAND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT BRONX COUNTY, NY 10/25/1993
4. 23RD STREET HOLDING CO CROSSLAND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 10/26/1993
5. 23RD STREET HOLDING CO CROSSLAND FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 10/26/1993
6. CHATWAL SANT COMMISSIONER OF LABOR INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 06/04/1990
7. CHATWAL SANT DEPT OF HOUSING,PRESERVATION & DEV. INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/09/1991
8. CHATWAL SANT DEPT OF HOUSING,PRESERVATION & DEV. TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/09/1991
9. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 01/13/1994
10. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/14/1994
11. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/14/1994
12. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/14/1994
13. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/14/1994
14. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/14/1994
15. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 05/09/1994
16. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 06/07/1994
17. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/20/1994
18. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/20/1994
19. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/20/1994
20. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY
Select checkboxes to print, e-mail, etc
21. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
22. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
23. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
24. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
25. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
26. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
27. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
28. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT KINGS COUNTY, NY 04/10/1995
29. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
30. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
31. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
32. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
33. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
34. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
35. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
36. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
37. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
38. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 04/12/1995
39. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
40. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
41. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
42. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
43. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
44. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
45. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
46. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
47. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT RICHMOND COUNTY, NY 04/13/1995
48. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION AND FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/20/2001
49. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION AND FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/20/2001
50. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION AND FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/20/2001
51. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION AND FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/20/2001
52. CHATWAL SANT NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION AND FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 04/20/2001
53. CHATWAL SANT NYC DEPT OF FINANCE NY CITY TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 12/20/1990
54. CHATWAL SANT S AL BARAKA BANCORP (CALIFORNIA) INC JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/27/1992
55. CHATWAL SANT S AL TAWFEEK COMPANY FOR INVESTMENT FUNDS JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/27/1992
56. CHATWAL SANT S BANK OF BARODA JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 06/02/1992
57. CHATWAL SANT S BANK OF BARODA JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 12/07/1993
58. CHATWAL SANT S BANK OF INDIA JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/21/1994
59. CHATWAL SANT S BANK OF INDIA JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/28/1994
60. CHATWAL SANT S CHEN KUEN H TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY
61. CHATWAL SANT S CHEN KUEN H TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 09/16/1991
62. CHATWAL SANT S CHEN KUEN H NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 12/13/1991
63. CHATWAL SANT S CHEN KUNE TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 09/16/1991
64. CHATWAL SANT S COMMISSIONER OF LABOR INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR QUEENS COUNTY, NY 07/01/1991
65. CHATWAL SANT S COMMISSIONER OF LABOR INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR QUEENS COUNTY, NY 02/18/1992
66. CHATWAL SANT S COMMISSIONER OF LABOR INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR QUEENS COUNTY, NY 03/23/1992
67. CHATWAL SANT S COMMISSIONER OF LABOR INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION WAR QUEENS COUNTY, NY 06/26/1992
68. CHATWAL SANT S ELLMAN LAWRENCE JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 03/19/1993
69. CHATWAL SANT S GRIFFIN EQUITIES INC JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 03/06/1995
70. CHATWAL SANT S NY STATE DEP’T OF TAXATION & FINANCE NY STATE TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 07/21/1992
71. CHATWAL SANT S NYC DEPT OF FINANCE NY CITY TAX WARRANT NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 08/19/1994
72. CHATWAL SANT S RAGLAN REALTY CORP JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 08/24/1989
73. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA NEW YORK BRANCH JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 01/06/1994
74. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA, NEW YORK BRANCH TRANSCRIPT OF JUDGMENT QUEENS COUNTY, NY 02/08/1993
75. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA,NEW YORK BRANCH LIS PENDENS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 09/30/1991
76. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA,NEW YORK BRANCH JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 07/25/1994
77. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA,NEW YORK BRANCH JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 07/25/1994
78. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA-NEW YORK BRANCH JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 10/25/1991
79. CHATWAL SANT S STATE BANK OF INDIA-NEW YORK BRANCH JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY 12/17/1992
80. CHATWAL SANT SINGH BANK OF INDIA JUDGMENTS NEW YORK COUNTY, NY
ping. A little more fundraising info related to Hildabeast. India this time.
No fraud there.
From left, Sant Chatwal, Bill Clinton, Renu Mehta and Michael Douglas at an event in London in 2006. Chatwal, a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton, raised money for their campaigns and causes even as he faced legal and financial difficulties. Mehta, a philanthropist, founded Fortune Forum.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060910/asp/look/story_6718780.asp
Renu, born and brought up in Britain, is the daughter of global activist Vijay Mehta. Fortune Forum is about philanthropy with a heart, a mind and plenty of muscle, she says.
Apart from Clinton, others speakers at the launch event the Fortune Forum Summit will include the actor Michael Douglas and new age guru Deepak Chopra. Tickets arent cheap £1,000 each. But entertainment will include Yusuf Islam, the artist previously known as Cat Stevens.
.
NEVER FORGET
.
RON BROWN’s plane had to go down just as he’s to testify under oath before a U.S. Senate Investigating Committee that he personally received $400,000, on then First Lady HILLARY’s behalf, while visiting Communist Vietnam. Communist $$$ that was quickly turned over to then DNC Chair, now 2008 Presidential Candidate, CHRIS DODD.
HILLARY’s support of Communist Vietnam’s push to take over a then Free South Vietnam during the Vietnam War ..horridly brought down upon the once Free South Vietnamese People:
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Pictures of a vietnamese Re-Education (SLAVE LABOR) Camp
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1308949/posts
..”JOURNEY from the FALL”.. MoviePremieres = Fall of Saigon CLARITY..
http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1806248/posts
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For...
...the Enemy is now within...
...and always has been.
.
Signed:..”ALOHA RONNIE” Guyer
Veteran-1st Major Battles for Freedom of the Vietnam War 1965-66
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
http://www.RickRescorla.com/The%20Statue.htm
http://www.ArmchairGeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24361
.
NEVER FORGET
By the way, if anyone is interested, here is the Clinton Global Initiative donor list for 2007. It’s .pdf
Michael Douglas is listed, as well as many other names that might prove interesting. (YouTube is one)
Oops...posting the link would be nice, I guess.
http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Document.Doc?&id=108
Sounds like this guy is playing a real life version of the Monopoly board game. You know, when you land on Park Place and you owe a billion dollars in rent and the only way to pay is to sell off your stuff. Of course, what happens the next time you land on Park Place?
Please let everyone know about today’s fax sent to the senator’s office putting her on notice about illegal donations. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1890618/posts
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