Washington, April 19 (IANS) With Indian-American hotel
magnate, the high-profile Sant Singh Chatwal, pleading guilty to
federal campaign finance fraud, several prominent Democratic leaders are
rushing to return or donate to charity cash collected by their major
fund-raiser.
New York mayor Bill de Blasio's campaign said Friday
it will return more than $15,000 in cash raised by Chatwal, who served
on the host committee of at least one of de Blasio's fund-raisers and
bundling thousands of dollars on his behalf, New York Observer reported
citing records.
"Yes, we are returning all funds given or raised
by Mr. Chatwal," Jonathan Rosen, who worked for Mr. de Blasio's
campaign, told the Observer via email.
Chatwal has raised funds
for several prominent Democratic leaders including Hillary Clinton's
2008 presidential campaign and Senate majority leader Harry Reid,
Chatwal,
70, pleaded guilty Thursday in Brooklyn federal court to using straw
donors to make more than $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions to
three unnamed candidates. Court papers don't identify the recipients of
Chatwal's illegal largesse by name, but indicate it dated back at least
to 2007.
But influential Washington news site Politico cited a
source familiar with the investigation as saying the unlawful donations
were delivered to Clinton's 2008 campaign, as well as to House member
Kendrick Meek's 2010 Senate campaign in Florida and to a campaign by
former Senator Chris Dodd, who served as head of the Senate India
Caucus.
A Justice Department press release said: "There is no
allegation that the candidates participated in, or were aware of
Chatwal's scheme."
Chatwal was a major figure among well-heeled Indian-Americans who support Democrats.
He
attended at least two state dinners for India in the US, one hosted by
President Bill Clinton in 2000 and another hosted by President Barack
Obama in 2009, according to Politico.
In the 1990s, Chatwal -
then known as the founder of the popular Bombay Palace chain of
restaurants in New York - filed for personal bankruptcy and became
enmeshed in a dispute over whether he was hiding his assets, the news
site reported.
In 2007, Chatwal pledged that he and other Indian-Americans would raise $5 million for Clinton's presidential campaign.
He
organized a fundraiser that year that was billed to include appearances
by two celebrity businessmen from India, neither of whom could legally
donate at the fundraiser they were set to headline, Politico said.
Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Senator Mark Warner are also donating to charity funds tied to Chatwal.
An
adviser to McAuliffe's political action committee said Thursday that
the governor will donate $4,300 to a nonprofit that provides free health
care to the poor. Chatwal gave to McAuliffe's 2013 gubernatorial
campaign.
A spokesman for Warner said the $1,000 Chatwal gave to Warner's campaign in 2012 will be donated to charity.
In
a statement, cited by New York Observer a spokesperson for Chatwal
said, "Mr. Chatwal deeply regrets his actions and accepts full
responsibility for the consequences. He looks forward to resolving this
personal matter."
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)