Adam's Apple
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- Apr 25, 2004
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Hill's Cash Eyed as Chinese-Laundered
By CHARLES HURT in Washington and ELAINE CHAN in New York
October 20, 2007
Hillary Clinton's campaign has been raising huge piles of money in Chinatown, but some of it has come from donors who can't be located or who were improperly repaid for their contributions, according to The Post and other reports.
A search of Chinatown donors yesterday by The Post found several bogus addresses and some contributions that raised eyebrows.
Shin K. Cheng is listed twice in federal records for giving $1,000 donations to Clinton's campaign on April 17.
But the address recorded on campaign reports is a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases, hemorrhoids and skin disease.
No one at the address knew of a Shin K. Cheng.
Another donation came from a Shih Kan Chang on Canal Street. But the address listed is a shop that sells knock-off watches and other pirated goods. The sales clerk there did not know the donor.
Hsiao Yen Wang, a cook in Chinatown, is listed as giving Clinton $1,000 on April 13. Contacted yesterday, she told The Post she had written a check.
But it was on behalf of a man named David Guo, president of the Fujian American Cuisine Council, and Wang told The Post that Guo had repaid her for the $1,000 contribution.
Such "straw donations" are strictly prohibited by federal law.
In addition, yesterday's search by The Post also turned up several $1,000 donations from Chinatown that were made by cooks, dishwashers, a cashier and a college student.
The findings closely match a report yesterday by the Los Angeles Times that found a huge number of Chinatown donations from donors listing bogus addresses or in amounts unlikely, given the donor's occupation.
The Times examined 150 donors, one-third of whose addresses could not be found. As with the Post search, most of the donors are not registered to vote.
In April, for instance, the Clinton campaign raised $380,000 from a single fund-raiser in Chinatown, the Times said. By comparison, Sen. John Kerry raised $24,000 in Chinatown during his entire campaign.
The Clinton campaign dismissed the L.A. Times story as derogatory to Chinese-Americans.
"We do not ethnically profile donors," growled Howard Wolfson. "Asian-Americans in Chinatown and Flushing have the same right to contribute as every other American."
Campaign officials said they're always reviewing contributions to ensure compliance with federal rules, and, indeed, had found problems with some donations, though not necessarily the ones raised by the Times and The Post.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10202007/news/nationalnews/hills_cash_eyed_as_chinese_lau.htm
By CHARLES HURT in Washington and ELAINE CHAN in New York
October 20, 2007
Hillary Clinton's campaign has been raising huge piles of money in Chinatown, but some of it has come from donors who can't be located or who were improperly repaid for their contributions, according to The Post and other reports.
A search of Chinatown donors yesterday by The Post found several bogus addresses and some contributions that raised eyebrows.
Shin K. Cheng is listed twice in federal records for giving $1,000 donations to Clinton's campaign on April 17.
But the address recorded on campaign reports is a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases, hemorrhoids and skin disease.
No one at the address knew of a Shin K. Cheng.
Another donation came from a Shih Kan Chang on Canal Street. But the address listed is a shop that sells knock-off watches and other pirated goods. The sales clerk there did not know the donor.
Hsiao Yen Wang, a cook in Chinatown, is listed as giving Clinton $1,000 on April 13. Contacted yesterday, she told The Post she had written a check.
But it was on behalf of a man named David Guo, president of the Fujian American Cuisine Council, and Wang told The Post that Guo had repaid her for the $1,000 contribution.
Such "straw donations" are strictly prohibited by federal law.
In addition, yesterday's search by The Post also turned up several $1,000 donations from Chinatown that were made by cooks, dishwashers, a cashier and a college student.
The findings closely match a report yesterday by the Los Angeles Times that found a huge number of Chinatown donations from donors listing bogus addresses or in amounts unlikely, given the donor's occupation.
The Times examined 150 donors, one-third of whose addresses could not be found. As with the Post search, most of the donors are not registered to vote.
In April, for instance, the Clinton campaign raised $380,000 from a single fund-raiser in Chinatown, the Times said. By comparison, Sen. John Kerry raised $24,000 in Chinatown during his entire campaign.
The Clinton campaign dismissed the L.A. Times story as derogatory to Chinese-Americans.
"We do not ethnically profile donors," growled Howard Wolfson. "Asian-Americans in Chinatown and Flushing have the same right to contribute as every other American."
Campaign officials said they're always reviewing contributions to ensure compliance with federal rules, and, indeed, had found problems with some donations, though not necessarily the ones raised by the Times and The Post.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10202007/news/nationalnews/hills_cash_eyed_as_chinese_lau.htm
