Mauricio Celis: Hillary Backer, Drug Dealer?

Captains Quarters ^ | January 15, 2008 | Edward Morrissey

[fweingart]

Last November, I wrote about the case of Hillary Clinton backer Mauricio Celis, whose ownership of a law practice resulted in an indictment containing charges of impersonating a lawyer and fraudulent business practices. Now the state of Texas has a new investigation of Celis which includes money laundering and suspected involvement in Mexican drug cartels:

Mauricio Celis is linked to the Mexican drug trade in a search warrant the state used Friday to raid his law offices and gather computer files, according to financial documents and other business records. The warrant includes a sworn statement by a Texas Attorney General's official accusing Celis of money laundering. ...

The state searched a U.S. Treasury database and border crossing data to determine that Celis went to Mexico frequently after withdrawing large sums of cash, according to an affidavit accompanying the warrant.

"Celis is rumored to be associated with questionable criminal element (sic) possibly related to drug trafficking," the affidavit states.

The affidavit, by Capt. Alex Pena of the Attorney General's Office, states that Pena "believes that Mauricio Celis has committed the felony offense of money laundering."

A document the state obtained from Frost Bank showed a joint account signed by Celis and Raul Armando Winder, a Mexican citizen and former police officer who has been employed as a pilot by individuals linked to narcotic trafficking, according to the affidavit. The account was for a business called Pegasus Air Services, which Celis owned from 2002-05, according to the Texas Secretary of State. Winder is listed as vice president on the bank application.

As I noted in November, Celis is a fairly heavy hitter in Texas Democrat circles. How important is Celis? In the last three cycles, Celis donated over $110,000 to Democrats. Donations went to John Edwards, Claire McCaskill, Ken and John Salazar, and especially the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the DNC, the latter two of which accounts for almost half of those donations. Hillary Clinton received a maximum donation of $2300 from Celis in March, presumably for her primary fund.

In a suddenly competitive Democratic primary, this kind of association is the last thing that Hillary needs. However, this has the potential to embarrass more Democrats than just Hillary Clinton. Anyone who received money from Celis will have to explain their association with an alleged fraud, perjurer, and drug-cartel "investor".

At the time, I said that the Celis story would be minor in comparison to the Norman Hsu scandal. I may have underestimated the problem at the time, given the developments in this case.

[fweingart]

Big trouble for Democrats and Hillary if this gets any play in the MSM.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Makes perfect sense.

You have to be on drugs to support Hillary.

[flattorney]

FlAttorney's FR "Straight Talk" page

The Hillary-Democrats Mauricio Celis Scandal
01.09.08: D.A. Carlos Valdez (Selena murder fame) opposes Court return of Celis passport
01.07.08: FlAttorney's Celis Scandal Position Statement
01.04.08: Agents raid influential Texas Democrat's offices
- - 01.05.08: More Mauricio Celis details
01.04.08, Texas Lawyer: Celis Now Accused of Laundering Millions – Law Offices Raided
01.04.08 Doc: Mauricio Celis-CGT International Law Group et. al. Search Warrant (PDF - 13 pgs)
- - Celis’ law offices were raided today by Texas State & Local authorities. The raid and new search warrant allegations are unrelated to Celis' Nov. 2007 criminal indictments. Additional criminal indictments against Celis are expected. - FlA
12.19.07: South Texas Called a Judicial Hellhole for 6th Straight Year
12.08.07: Maurico Celis has no law degree in either Country, yet practices law in Texas and Mexico
11.30.07: TX-22 Nick Lampson(D) Refuses to Dislodge Celis Donations (Tom DeLay's old seat)
11.20.07: Donor Celis has history of local Judges recusing themselves from legal cases against him
11.16.07: Powerful Hillary-Dems Texas donor, Mauricio Celis, Criminally Indicted (Multiple Counts)
- - 11.17.07: Second FR Thread | Mauricio Celis personal political donations, per FEC
10.30.07: Politicians Scramble to dump Celis Donations but not TX-22 Nick Lampson
10.05.07: Celis Background Information
Additional Texas Lawyer Articles:
12.03.07: Committee Sues Celis, Firm, Alleges Unauthorized Practice of Law
- - Legal Doc: UPCL vs Celis
11.16.07: Mauricio Celis Indicted on 10 Criminal Counts | All Texas Lawyer Celis Articles
"Corpus Christi Caller" Mauricio Celis News Articles (Courtesy SouthTexas)
- - Mauricio Celis is a major Mexican donor to Hillary & other Democrats. Nov. 2007, Celis, 36, was indicted on charges of (1) impersonating a police officer, (2) practicing law without a license or degree, (3) perjury, and (4) theft. He tried to flee back to Mexico before being arrested. Mauricio Celis also has major ties to the Mexican illegal narcotics trade. Further, the Attorney General of Texas (Greg Abbott, retired Texas Supreme Court Judge) - with assistance from the FBI - is currently investigating approximately $15 million in Celis money laundering transactions, which includes RICO Act violations. Of further interest, Democrat Nick Lampson won Tom DeLay's TX-22 House of Representatives seat when DeLay abruptly retired from public office. A key Lampson campaign pledge was that he would never be part of the Washington DC Culture of Corruption. Yet this liar and fraud received $4,600 from Mauricio Celis, AND received $4,300 from Paw Family members who are key players in the major Norman Hsu-Hillary Clinton-Democrats Scandal. In the Hsu Scandal, Hillary’s campaign refused to dislodge any Hsu et. al. donations, until the FBI and the Justice Department began an investigation. Hillary then immediately coughed up $850,000 Hsu scandal tainted money. To-date, Lampson has never returned his Hsu-Paw Family scandal donations. - FlA

Posted for FlAttorney by TAB