Posted on 01/04/2008 7:26:13 PM PST by NormsRevenge
AUSTIN, Texas - Authorities raided the offices of an influential Democratic donor on Friday, prompting accusations by the donor's attorneys that the raid was politically motivated.
The state attorney general's office said it was assisting the Nueces County district attorney in the criminal investigation of Mauricio Celis, 36, who has given money to major Democratic candidates including Hillary Clinton and is the subject of numerous ongoing lawsuits and charges.
Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, sued Celis in November, accusing him of practicing law without a license. Agents from Abbott's office were among those involved in the Friday search of Celis' Corpus Christi office.
"What is becoming abundantly clear is that we're looking at a political vendetta by an openly ambitious Republican politician in Austin who wants to score points by persecuting a prominent Democrat in South Texas," said Tony Canales, an attorney for Celis.
Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said the warrant was executed in an ongoing criminal investigation.
"The office of the attorney general, which regularly conducts and supervises complex money laundering investigations, is assisting the Nueces County district attorney with this case," he said.
Celis has a controlling interest in the CGT Law Group of Corpus Christi. Texas law prohibits anyone from owning a controlling interest in a law firm unless he is a licensed lawyer. While Celis is not licensed to practice law in Texas, he has argued that he can legally practice law in Mexico.
The search warrant targeted any records or communications related to the firm's business transactions or finances and authorized investigators to seize and analyze any pertinent information.
The raid was unrelated to Celis' November indictments by a Nueces County grand jury on four charges, including perjury and holding himself out as a lawyer.
I eat Mexican food. Does that make me a Mexican chef? Can I go to Mexico city and cook in a restaurant? Oh, I forgot. They won’t let Americans do jobs other Mexicans are doing, in either country.
That means we can’t be illegal immigrants; drug smugglers; coyotes; prostitutes; gun runners; terrorists, etc.
Gee, thanks Mexico. You’re keeping us on the straight and narrow.
I wonder of Celis got his law license at TACO BELL or Chi-Chi’s Restaurant and Law School?
This is gonna be good!
A Mexican national in the US impersonating a lawyer and a police officer.
So did authorities figure out how many identities this guy has?
How many SS numbers he has?
How many US govt benefits he's collecting under different identities?
How much money he's sent back to Mexico via Western Union or by other electronic means?
How many places he's registered to vote and how many times he's voted using different identities?
No, authorities can't ask his immigration status b/c that's a federal matter (/sarc).
However, they can nail him for fraudulently filing official documents to obtain voting status, US govt benefits, SS cards, IRS refunds, driver's licenses, bank loans, mortgages, commercial licenses, education benefits........etc.
Moreover, if he fraudulently voted on referendums involving taxing issues for US citizens, that could entail severe L/E issues.
Is Celis a Mexican citizen (can anyone practice law in Mexico who is an American citizen)?
If not, isn’t it illegal for a foreign national to give or raise money for U.S. politicians?
Oh, I forgot. He’s a democrat. Paging Hsu, Riady, Buddhist nuns, and any Red Chinese operative in California.
Paging Al Gore - There is an envelope for you at the Buddhist temple. Remember to take off your shoes before entering.
.
Not sure if I did a “combo” of that updated .gif of Hillary where you stuffed cash in her pockets
Don’t think I’ve seen that one in awhile. Lost in the mass of files, lol.
Not thinking of the “Money Honey” song, are you? heh. I posted it with Hill and Hsu before.
I just love these stories.
Spot-on.
“Political vendetta by an openly ambitious Republican politician in Austin” takes the cake for chutzpah.
Buttered, please! :-)
So many questions and so few answers - [that we’ll ever find out probably].
They are starting to do better down here at actually rounding up illegals when it’s obvious they’re illegals.
I had an neighbor from England live next door to me for years with an expired visa and the city knew it.
A crooked influential Mexican dem donor will probably go scott free.
Thanks for the ping Liz
Exactly. Ronnie Earle wrote the book on political vendettas—ask Tom Delay.
.
ChiCom bucks
Saudi bucks
Mex bucks
But now the booze/boos.....
Lol, Hillary was probably into the booze last night and she got BOOOOS today!! Bet that was a shock to her ego, another one I mean!
State raids office of Celis
Saturday, January 5, 2008
CORPUS CHRISTI — 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.
http://www.caller.com/news/2008/jan/05/state-raids-office-of-celis/
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
I want Greg Abbott as next TX gov, NOT KBH!
The Clintons are in trouble. Really, unbelievable.
In the past the Caller-Times avoided giving prominence to this story and the names of people connected to Celis. In the 2006 election cycle he donated over $30,000 to the winning campaign of a DemocRAT challenger, Juan Garcia to a long term incumbent in the Texas legislature. This challenger had the complete backing of the Caller-Times editorial staff and news reporting staff. Local Republican activists complained about about irregularities in this campaign's expenditures. In particular there was a letter sent out by the candidate's wife on her personal stationary to at least 10,000 recipients with no mention of who paid for that letter. The postage alone was over $4,000, and it apparently didn't come out of her personal funds. The Caller-Times editorial page dismissed the complaints about the letter as "sour grapes". Now that the Celis case has broken, local Republican leaders have Rep. Juan Garcia return all contributions from Celis, but he only has donated a few thousand dollars in unspent funds to a charity.
Not long after the Celis story broke, a local very wealthy trial lawyer, Mikal Watts, who was self funding a campaign for the the DemocRAT nomination for the US Senate seat held by John Cornyn, dropped out of the senate race. There's lots of speculation that the Watts Law Firm was getting lots of referrals from Celis.
The Caller-Times doesn't seem very eager to cover this story and the stories connected to it. It has been papers in San Antonio, the San Antonio Express, and Houston, the Houston Chronicle, that have take the lead in following it. The Caller-Times just runs me too stories to prevent loss of all credibility. They seem to be eager not to connect the dots between Celis and lawyers and politicians and the money going between them. Who do the editors at the Caller-Times want to protect, and why. Do they have a conflict of interest?
Just more news you’ll never see on the NBC or CBS evening News....
Isn’t Celis a Mexican National and doesn’t that make his donations to US Politicians, ILLEGAL?
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