Posted on 12/27/2002 6:44:33 PM PST by Jean S
A Clinton administration scandal that has been on the shelf for years is about to get dusted off with the expected arrival of a wealthy Filipino businessman-turned-congressman accused of making illegal contributions to the Democratic Party.
Facing a U.S. extradition request, Mark B. Jimenez voluntarily left the Philippines on Thursday with two U.S. marshals to face an indictment in Miami produced by a federal task force investigating money illegally funneled to top Democrats.
Jimenez, 55, was flown to Guam Friday, and Philippine vice consul Charmaine Aviquivil told ABS-CBN television that Jimenez would spend the night at a federal facility and undergo a medical examination for sleep apnea. It wasn't immediately known when his travel would resume.
The case will rekindle memories of some of the Clinton-era fund-raising scandals marked by the Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers and White House coffees.
Jimenez was among at least 28 people charged by a Justice Department task force created by then-U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1997 to investigate allegations of campaign violations. In the other cases, 22 people were convicted, two are fugitives, one was acquitted, one was fined by the Federal Election Commission and another case is pending.
Among two of the more high-profile cases, Democratic fund-raiser John Huang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws in funneling more than $100,000 in illegal donations to President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign. Huang was sentenced to a year's probation and a $10,000 fine.
Huang was reimbursed for his political donations by the Lippo Group, an Indonesian banking and industrial conglomerate. James Riady, Huang's former boss and a member of the family that owns Lippo, pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and agreed to pay an $8.6 million fine.
Jimenez was Florida's largest donor to the national Democratic Party in 1996.
In its indictment, the U.S. government accused Jimenez of using corporate money to reimburse employees for illegal donations to Clinton and other candidates. Donors were employees of Future Tech International Inc., a Miami computer parts distribution business owned by Jimenez, and Mark Vision Computer, another Miami company owned by a relative.
Jimenez was accused of illegally routing $50,000 to the Democratic National Committee and $33,500 in donations to campaign committees.
The indictment also charged Jimenez with corporate fraud and tax evasion stemming from personal business dealings unrelated to the fund-raising allegations. He is accused of defrauding the IRS by taking business deductions for personal expenses and political contributions made with money from Future Tech.
From 1994 to 1996, the money went to Clinton, U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy and Robert Torricelli, U.S. Senate candidates Roger Bedford in Alabama and Thomas Strickland in Colorado, and U.S. House candidate Ann Henry in Arkansas, the indictment said.
As a citizen of the Philippines, Jimenez could not legally contribute to American political campaigns.
Jimenez left the United States in 1998 and was labeled a fugitive after the indictment was issued in Miami the following year.
In Manila, Jimenez made new high-profile friends. He became an adviser to Philippine President Joseph Estrada and helped broker several large business deals before the two had a falling out.
He was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives in 2001 and exhausted his legal appeals challenging extradition earlier this month.
Days before his court-ordered departure, Jimenez sued the justice minister and two other people, accusing them of extorting $2 million from him last year so that he wouldn't have to testify against Estrada, who was ousted in 2001.
"I'll take my chances. I'm hoping for the best," a smiling Jimenez told reporters shortly before he was handed over to the marshals in Manila. "I'm going to the USA to solve my problems. ... I have no remorse."
Defense attorneys in Miami filed a motion Friday seeking Jimenez's release on $100,000 bond. Abbe Lowell, Jimenez's lead attorney, did not return phone calls.
Well, THAT's an interesting choice of attorney. (But not a surprise)
I know--how I wish that these idiotic "reporters" would expend one tenth of the energy they spent trying to, say, link Ken Lay to the Bush administration, and find out what the hell was going on with this fund raising scandal and exactly what deals were being made. Seems to me the information is there waiting to be documented and presented coherently.
However, I'm not surprised to see 'Rat lawyer Abbe Lowell as defense attorney.
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