LATimes: Norman Hsu Fails to Appear for Bail Hearing Today, Judge Issues Arrest Warrant

[flpoljunkie]

Warrant issued for Hsu's arrest
Democratic fundraiser fails to appear for bail hearing on grand theft charge.

By Dan Morain
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 6, 2007

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. -- A warrant was issued this morning for Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who failed to appear for a bail hearing on a 15-year-old grand theft charge.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Robert D. Foiles ordered Hsu, a major fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, to be held without bail should he make an appearance. Last week, Hsu was released after posting $2 million bail.

Hsu's attorney, James Brosnahan, explained that he had lost contact with Hsu and that the financier had failed to deliver his passport as promised.

"Mr. Hsu is not here and we don't know where he is," Brosnahan said outside court. "We expected him to be here."

Brosnahan told Foiles that a legal assistant for his law firm went to Hsu's New York City condominium last week and spent 90 minutes searching for Hsu's passport.

Prosecutors in California said Hsu disappeared in 1992 after pleading no contest and agreeing to serve up to three years in prison for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme.

"We don't know if he has his passport," Deputy Atty. Gen. Ralph Sevilla said. "What we do know is that a bench warrant has been issued."

Asked if Hsu has left the United States, Sevilla said that "he has that capability."

Hsu has lived in Hong Kong, where he has financial interests.

Sevilla said he would report today's developments to his superiors, who were likely to contact the FBI. Federal officials have already said they will investigate Hsu's fundraising activities.

Hsu has donated or raised more than $1 million for Democrats and their causes. He served as a "bundler," rounding up a group of donors and then packaging their checks together. He is a member of Clinton's "HillRaiser" group, individuals who pledged to raise more than $100,000 for her presidential campaign.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-hsu6sep06,0,2063880.story?coll=la-home-center

[acmavm]

1. Asked if Hsu has left the United States, Sevilla siad that

"he has that capabiltiy."

I bet he was traveling faster than the speed of sound.

[leveymg]

2. The Freepers are gonna eat this one up.

A number of suspects in "Chinagate", a decade ago, also managed to skip out of the country.

There are just too many parallels.

[flpoljunkie]

3. NYT: There were no offices at addresses Hsu gave for Components Ltd, Cool Planets, Coopgors Ltd...

People who met him said they knew only that he ran an apparel business. Efforts to learn more about his trade hit dead-ends yesterday. Visits to companies at addresses listed by Mr. Hsu on campaign finance records provided little information. There were no offices in buildings in New York’s garment district whose addresses were given for businesses with names like Components Ltd., Cool Planets, Next Components, Coopgors Ltd., NBT and Because Men’s clothing — all listed by Mr. Hsu in federal filings at different times.

At a new loft-style residential condominium in SoHo that was also listed as an address for one of his companies, an employee there said that he had never seen or heard of Mr. Hsu. Another company was listed at a condo that Mr. Hsu had sublet in an elegant residential tower in Midtown Manhattan just off Fifth Avenue, but an employee there said Mr. Hsu moved out two years ago, after having lived there for five years. The employee, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about residents, said he recalled that Mr. Hsu had received a lot of mail from the Democratic Party.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/us/politics/31hsu.html

[razorman]

9. Yeah. This will only drag things out.

If this guy were simply tried quickly, and either acquitted or put away immediately, the issue would fizzle. But if he stays on the lam, it will be news-fodder for quite a while, perhaps into the election season.

[sandnsea]

4. eight more years of this

The only fundraising scandal I recall during Kerry's run was someone connected to the Clintons. This isn't something that "they all do". *sigh*

why oh why oh why

are we letting these people ruin our party.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Hsu is a poster boy for our broken system of campaign finance. Support public financing now!

Senator Durbin's bill, the "Fair Elections Now Act" starts with Congress. There is a companion bill in the House, as well.

It's a start to cleaning up our broken system! Please sign his petition urging your members of Congress to support the "Fair Electioins Act Now!"

http://ga3.org/campaign/fair_elections?rk=y1evRUn1ugUnE

Tell Congress: Support Fair Elections Now!

Today's political campaigns are getting more expensive every year, and even good candidates with the best of intentions must too often turn to special interests to raise the millions of dollars necessary to win a competitive race. As long as that is the case, people will ask -- justifiably -- if their elected officials are standing up for a policy because it is good for the people, or good for the special interests writing the checks.

That is why I am introducing the "Fair Elections Now Act." It would break the dependence on special interest money in Congressional elections once and for all by providing public funds to qualified candidates.

Urge your Members of Congress to support the "Fair Elections Now Act" and its companion bill in the House now!

Senator Dick Durbin

http://ga3.org/campaign/fair_elections?rk=y1evRUn1ugUnE

[wyldwolf]

10. pssst! Perhaps you didn't notice

Norman Hsu has donated $1.6 Million of money to The Democratic Party, Democratic party organizations, and Democratic candidates.

This not only includes money to Clinton, but also money to Barack Obama ($31,600), Eliot Spitzer ($60,100), Andrew Cuomo ($60,100), Jim Webb ($3,500), and others.

Has Howard Dean combed the DNC money rolls? Has he called on everyone to return all the money?

[rinsd]

12. This is a GOP hit on the Dem party.

A 15 year old charge in the middle of a Dem primary where the Democrats are kicking the GOP's ass in fundraising from Prez candidates to the national parties to congressional election committees and so on down the line.

[wyldwolf]

13. and it's morphing into a leftwing hit on Hillary Clinton

[sandnsea]

15. No. It's just the way the Clintons are

They aren't good for this party or the country. We don't have to put these people in office. We don't fucking NEED THEM.

Gore, Clark, Feingold, Kerry, Edwards, Dean - christ - Tester, Schweitzer, Webb, Sestak - we have a huge number of incredible Democrats who can run for President right this minute.

A lot of these people will walk away if we let the Clinton stink back into the party.

[wyldwolf]

19. guess how many on your list took money from Hsu??

[rinsd]

21. Don't worry somehow the Clintons will be a fault for that too.

[sandnsea]

24. That's what Republicans do

Take their own bad behavior, spread it around, and then get the underlings to be the sacrificial lambs.

It's really disgusting to deflect your own bad behavior off on other people.

The stink is really getting ripe and people are going to start remembering why Gore ran away from the Clintons in the first place.

[wyldwolf]

25. So, are you just going to continue spewing the "Clinton's fault" line or will you prove it?

[sandnsea]

28. Prove what?

Does Johnny Chung and John Huang ring a bell? They are unscrupulous people.

[wyldwolf]

31. what you said in post #24.

[karynnj]

48. There's a huge difference from being a bundler for Clinton

raising in excess of $100,000 and his contributing a couple of thousand to others. They should be checking out the big donors - they can't possibly check every donation coming in. They looked legitimate.

Here, the Clintons have said that Hsu looked ok on the surface. He was on New School's board. Unless another shoe falls, I don't see how the Clintons could have known of his background.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wyldwolf]

17. how so?

Did the Clinton's twist Howard Dean's arm in accepting $12,000 from Hsu for the DNC?

Exactly how did the Clintons get involved with $7000 to John Kerry? Or over $30,000 to the DSCC?

Webb? Cuomo? What - ya think Hillary told Hsu to donate to Obama???

[sandnsea]

29. trust

Oh my god, what a concept.

I shouldn't be surprised it has to be explained to you.

[rinsd]

33. IOW, you were full of it

[sandnsea]

44. Chung, Huang, Hsu, Chatwal - Four Fraudulent Fundraisers

Note to moderator. This has nothing to do with racism.


Johnny Chung, 43, who delivered a $50,000 campaign contribution to the White House and escorted Chinese businessmen to a presidential radio address, is cooperating with the Justice Department's investigation of finance abuses in the 1996 campaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/players/chung.htm

“While a mid-level Commerce Department official, Huang (pronounced "Wong") enjoyed extraordinary access to President Clinton…As a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee in 1996, Huang raised $3.4 million for the party and its campaign, mostly from the Asian American community. The DNC has since returned nearly half of the money, determining that it was improperly raised or came from questionable donors, some of them from overseas.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/players/huang.htm

“Sant S. Chatwal, an Indian American businessman, has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaigns...
Across the ocean, three Indian banks forced him into U.S. 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 longtime friend Bill Clinton.
Yet none of the legal and financial woes -- occasionally touched on in American or Indian newspapers or highlighted by political opponents -- raised red flags inside Hillary Clinton's fundraising operation. Chatwal recently said he plans to help raise $5 million from Indian Americans for Clinton's presidential bid…”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/02/AR2007090201436.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

And now Hsu.

[leveymg]

45. If Hil is nominated, emerging GOP constituency: Everyone whose job has been offshored

The Republicans are going to hit candidate Clinton over and about her head with this, if she's nominated.

We could lose the '08 election over this sort of thing.

[sandnsea]

46. Yep

And the sad thing is, they won't do enough to change the economy for working people to make putting up with the attack worth it.

There are so many qualified people to run right now. You know, I have to give Edwards a little extra props, becaue I know he knew what he was getting into against her. I'm not sure Obama does yet, but if he ever gets really close, he will.

[jefferson_dem]

23. Wonder how often this pic of Hillary with her Hillriaser buddy Hsu...

will show up in the press.



Are we sick of this shit yet?

[sandnsea]

26. No, it'll be this one

Hillary taking thousands from the corrupt Indian Chatwal family, while selling our jobs down the river.

[rinsd]

32. She's at a wedding there and thanks for exposing yourself as a bigot.

Why did you feel need to identify the family as Indian?

[sandnsea]

36. The bank fraud and fundraising fraud relates to India

Which you would know if you cared about honest government.

[rinsd]

38. And Willy Horton was just about furloughs.

Your slip is showing.

[sandnsea]

39. Say anything to avoid the truth

The Clintons are scum and will sell out anything to anybody - even the middle class economy they pretend to be protecting. The rest of the country will laugh when you try to spin fundraising scandals with bank fraud criminals into racism.

[rinsd]

42. Not when framed as you have.

How'd the Punjab memo go over?

[SOS]

49. Re: bigotry aimed at Indians...

"He ran a gas station down in St. Louis."

Hillary Clinton on Gandhi.

[flpoljunkie]

16. Believe me, I noticed, wyldwolf! Time to clean up the campaign finance system!

I don't know where you got the Obama figures. Hsu donated $2,000 to Obama's 2004 Senate campaign and $5,000 to his Hope Fund PAC.

[rinsd]

18. That is likely a reference to bundled money.

[wyldwolf]

20. $24,600 from "Hsu Associates."

http://www.examiner.com/a-916893%7EThe_curious_largesse_of_Norman_Hsu.html

[rinsd]

22. See that's what happens when you ass-u-me

;-)

[Forkboy]

5. I hope they catch him before she's nominated or we'll never hear the end of it.

[Zodiak]

43. Personally, I hope she isn't nominated

Which would not only go a long way with proving to the American people that Democrats are tired of this corrupt fundraising bullshit but also would solidify the party behind a populist message, and a clear message is what the pary has been lacking since the DLC wing of the party took over years ago.

The Democrats need to evolve beyond this "get money from corps, pay off the TV stations for time, get elected (maybe), and then sell out their base" treadmill. It only strengthens their enemies and diminishes their own grassroots (which has ALWAYS been the power of this party).

[AngryAmish]

6. This is bullshit

I don't now why they are persecuting him.

[2rth2pwr]

11. not persecuting, prosecuting

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/01/BADURT6B8.DTL

Hsu, 56, was arrested in connection with a warrant issued in 1992, when he failed to show up for sentencing after pleading guilty to a single count of grand theft. The case involved what a prosecutor described as a Ponzi scheme in which he defrauded investors of more than $1 million. Prosecutors believed Hsu had fled to his native Hong Kong.

But for the past few years, Hsu hasn't been living like a fugitive. Since 2003, he's been a regular on the contributor lists of big-name Democrats across the nation, crisscrossing the country to attend parties and fundraisers. He's given an estimated $600,000 of his own money to candidates ranging from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma to presidential hopefuls like New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, and helped raise hundreds of thousands more.

[KittyWampus]

8. whatever happened to Katrina Leung the GOP Fundraiser who turned out to be a Chinese spy?

[Colobo]

27. Let's all relax and see how this unfolds.

[sandnsea]

30. No let's not

The Clintons have already drug us through enough fundraising scandals, see my posts above. This is the exact kind of politics as usual Obama is saying he's going to fight against. If he doesn't take a stand now, then he never will.

[rinsd]

34. Obama doesn't need to put down the Clintons to make himself look better.

That is one of his more attractive qualities.

Perhaps you should emulate Obama a bit more.

[sandnsea]

35. The Clintons did this to themselves - FOUR TIMES,

At least. Obama isn't doing anything by pointing out the corruption he wants to clean up.

You will not get away with blaming the messenger this time.

[rinsd]

37. There is no messenger.

Unless you've now reached a place where you consider your opinion to be fact.

In which case, being more like your candidate should be farther down the list of things you need to do.

[sandnsea]

40. I didn't make these people up

There's no opinion about it.

[flpoljunkie]

41. Video coverage from KTVU in California of Norman Hsu, including his no show in court today

Videos and story:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/14046563/detail.html

[illinoisprogressive]

47. Back in China. Hoping the clintons will save him and also outsource jobs there.