Posted on 10/04/2007 7:41:33 AM PDT by Kuksool
SACRAMENTO — A Democratic group on Monday filed formal complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, accusing Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani of violating campaign laws, including money laundering. The complaints, made by Californians for Fair Election Reform, accuse Giuliani, through his friend Paul Singer, of establishing a Missouri "front" organization to
solicit illegal donations to support a ballot measure that would overturn California's winner-take-all system of allocating electoral votes.
Such a change would provide the Republican presidential nominee a chance to pick up roughly 20 electoral votes by dividing them up by congressional districts.
Singer, a hedge-fund billionaire and a policy adviser and regional finance director for Giuliani, revealed last week that he was the sole contributor to the committee, Take Initiative America, which donated $175,000 to the ballot measure.
Singer's disclosure that he'd contributed to the group came a day after top campaign officials for the GOP-backed electoral initiative — GOP attorney Tom Hiltachk, spokesman Kevin Eckery and fund-raiser Marty Wilson — resigned in protest after the lawyer in charge of Take Initiative America, Charles Hurth III, refused to disclose who contributed to the committee.
Although the initiative effort appears dead — in part because funding never materialized beyond Singer's contribution — the alleged violations are serious, said Chris Lehane, spokesman for the Democratic group.
"We want to get to the bottom of this," he said at a San Francisco news conference.
Singer's contribution, said James Harrison, the attorney who filed the complaint, raises questions about potential money laundering, illegal coordination between a candidate and an independent committee, and whether federal contribution limits were exceeded.
"As an agent of Giuliani's, Singer would be prohibited from soliciting or directing a contribution in excess of $2,300," said Harrison, who works with San Leandro-based Remcho, Johansen & Purcell, a firm specializing in election law. "We'd like the FEC to determine what Giuliani knew, when he knew it, what conversations he and Singer had about the contribution and how TIA was created. Whose idea was it? How did it come about?"
A spokesman for Giuliani denied any coordination with the initiative effort — the Campaign for Equal Representation — or the Take Initiative America committee.
"This is completely independent from our campaign," said Jarrod Agen, "and frankly it's not an initiative that serves our campaign's best interests."
Democrats also accused the Giuliani campaign of trying to conceal Singer's identity.
Under California law, the Campaign for Equal Representation was required to disclose its true source of funding. It identified Take Initiative America, which was created on Sept. 11, but Hurth, the lawyer behind the committee, refused to disclose where the $175,000 came from.
"We know that Singer intended his money to be used for the effort in California," Harrison said, "so, clearly, TIA was nothing more than a pass through.
"In California, that's considered money laundering."
Lehane said he's convinced Giuliani's campaign was behind the effort. He noted that Charles Bell, a partner with Hiltachk's firm, gave $1,300 to Giuliani's campaign days before the initiative was filed; Hurth had given $2,000 to Giuliani; his spokesman, Jonathan Wilcox, was a spokesman for former California GOP candidate Bill Simon; Simon himself is a co-chair for Giuliani's California campaign and a policy adviser.
"When you went through all these folks, virtually every road ultimately led back to Giuliani," Lehane said. "The one conclusion that one could safely draw is that it was the Giuliani campaign that was ultimately behind this."
Giuliani, in a statement last week, said he would have had no reason to be behind the initiative.
"As far as I'm concerned, you can leave it the way it is," he said. "In fact, in some ways you might consider, I think that this is a state I can win. That might actually favor some of the other Republican candidates who might have a more difficult time winning this state. I think this is a state that I've got a 50-50 chance of winning. So as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't mind leaving it that way."
Contact Steven Harmon at 916-441-2101 or sharmon@cctimes.com.
Not that the Hsu debacle ever got any traction.
I don’t get the feeling that any of them are running campaigns against conservatives, some say “please vote for me on the things we agree on, and not on issues we don’t agree on”, ie, RG, some like MR are running on how they have come around over years, (like many of us), on conservative social issues, still others are running on their conservative votes in Congress, ie DH, and FT is running on some of his votes in the Senate that we agree with, and some we do not.
Again, all are very different personalities, attitudes, weaknesses, they have different tones, and all are running on what they see as their strengths.
Anyway, SO FAR, I think our group is great, and can’t wait for them to begin to take each other on, how they will do it and how they respond will also be important to watch. Also, we have yet to hear their plans on certain policies.
Paul Singer and Elliott International Capital Advisors, Inc. were among owners of GenesisIntermedia.com, Inc., according to SEC filings. The GenesisIntermedia story is a fascinating story with a web of international crooks and domestic cons. Here’s are just a couple tidbits. Investing in any company with Ramy El-Batrawi as CEO is really, really questionable judgement, LOL. If you dig into the story, you can even find the head of Native Nations as an ex-Milken DBL employee, lol.
http://www.rgm.com/articles/Deutsche3.html
The Street.Com
By Matthew Goldstein
September 11, 2003
A central figure in a $130 stock manipulation scheme that led to the collapse of two small brokerage firms pled guilty Thursday in a California federal court.
Kenneth D’Angelo pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud in a bizarre plot that led to a separate civil lawsuit against Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and Deutsche Bank.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, filed civil charges against D’Angelo. The agency wants to disgorge the profits he generated from the scheme, which stemmed from a plan to manipulate shares of GenesisIntermedia, a defunct Los Angeles marketing and advertising firm.
D’Angelo artificially pumped up the price of GenesisIntermedia’s shares in order to convince a series of brokerages to loan money against the stock. D’Angelo is alleged to have orchestrated the scheme, which collapsed in September 2001, in conjunction with the company’s chief executive officer Ramy El-Batrawi, who is not identified by name in either the SEC complaint nor in a criminal filing by federal prosecutors.
The SEC, in its complaint, said the two men also had an accomplice, an unidentified individual who is described as “Saudi Arabian national.’’ A source familiar with the investigation said the alleged accomplice is Khashoggi.
(snip)
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2006/lr19655.htm
Litigation Release No. 19655 / April 13, 2006
SEC v. Ramy El-Batrawi, et al., United States District Court for the Central District of California, Case No 2:-06-cv-02247-(MRP)(RZ)
SEC Files Fraud Charges Against Ramy El-Batrawi, Adnan Khashoggi, GenesisIntermedia, and Others Arising Out of $130 Million Stock Loan and Manipulation Scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California charging Ramy El-Batrawi, Adnan Khashoggi, and others with orchestrating a scheme to manipulate the stock price of GenesisIntermedia, Inc. (GENI), a now-defunct public company that was based in Van Nuys, California. The Commission alleges that the scheme, which occurred between September 1999 and September 2001, resulted in the misappropriation of more than $130 million, the collapse of several broker-dealers, and the largest bailout in the history of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
According to the complaint, Ramy El-Batrawi, GENI’s Chief Executive Officer at the time, and Adnan Khashoggi, with the assistance of Richard J. Evangelista, Wayne Breedon, and Kenneth P. D’Angelo (a stock loan broker previously charged by the SEC and criminal authorities), developed a manipulation scheme by which they could profit from lending GENI shares (rather than selling them). The complaint alleges that El-Batrawi and Khashoggi, through an offshore entity called Ultimate Holdings, loaned approximately 15 million shares of GENI stock to Evangelista’s employer at the time, Native Nations Securities, a New Jersey broker-dealer, and more than a dozen other broker-dealers in exchange for cash based upon the market value of the shares.
(snip)
Californians for Fair Election Reform
No info on who they are or where their money comes form.
That's the ticket! ;-)
Golly——you are SO “tolerant and compassionate.”
(Sniffle) even when a lowlife sucker like Giuliani is blanking the Repub Party base, trying to throw us out, you stand up and defend him (sob).
Sweet Jesus, Lord God Almighty, that’s AMAZING.
BTW, there’s a bridge you can buy cheap-—offered only to TRUSTING YOU. It’s in Brooklyn—and how do want to handle the down payment?
But, but, but........."security expert Rooty" can't keep up with all of his contributors-----because----when he was mayor, he was too busy lowering crime rates, cleaning up NY, getting people off welfare, and helping victims cope with 911.
Where OH where are the orgs that should be going after Billary Clinton on her fundraising. Must freerepublic stand alone???
Hello Judicial Watch are you listening????
“Democratic group accuses Giuliani of money laundering”
Ruck Fudy.
Ah, the other Hsu drops? /Clintonista name-dropping whisper
“It is conservatives who have blown him off and trashed him since he announced, because he is...”
pro-abortion (and wants my tax dollars to pay for it), pro gay “marriage” anti-gun and soft on illegals.
Precisely! As I said most conservatives think he will take away their guns, promote gay marriage in our churches, will work for more abortions, and agrees with illegal immigration.
We shall see how he answers these charges from FT or some other candidate.
“We shall see how he answers these charges from FT or some other candidate.”
These aren’t charges from some other candidate, this is the mans’ history and his beliefs.
And FT, Hunter, or any candidates need to call him out in the debates, then primary voters will be educated his “plans”.
“And FT, Hunter, or any candidates need to call him out in the debates, then primary voters will be educated his “plans”.”
Or the voters can simply read and study each candidate.
But I do think it is a good idea for the other candidates to call him out on his liberalism.
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