Free Republic

McAuliffe’s connection to Caramadre came to light about two weeks ago, as his race entered the homestretch against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican. According to court records made public then, McAuliffe’s investment paired him directly with the ailing mechanic, with forms identifying them as acquaintances. McAuliffe’s campaign said the candidate did not know the mechanic and doesn’t know why they were listed as acquaintances. But the episode still opened a wider window into how McAuliffe came to invest with Caramadre in 2006 — and provides yet another example of how the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee has...

A dying mechanic wanted a few thousand dollars to leave to his wife, two sons and infant daughter. A politically connected millionaire, now running for Virginia governor, wanted to make some money. And a Rhode Island estate planner wanted to become ambassador to the Vatican. All three came together on paper in late 2006 in a deal struck just two months before the 44-year-old mechanic died of cancer. The mechanic got $5,000. The millionaire, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, made at least $47,000. But the estate planning lawyer, Joseph Caramadre, went to prison instead of Rome. Caramadre helped McAuliffe place a bet...

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was one of dozens of investors with a Rhode Island estate planner charged with defrauding insurers by using the stolen identities of terminally ill people, according to court documents filed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Providence. McAuliffe’s name appeared on a lengthy list of investors with Joseph A. Caramadre, an attorney and accountant who obtained the identities of dying people to set up annuities that ultimately cost insurance companies millions of dollars, the documents say.

McAuliffe to donate funds from convicted Rhode Island businessman to charity Terry McAuliffe's name popped up today on a list of investors who bought annuities from a Rhode Island businessman who pleaded guilty in 2012 to stealing the identities of terminally ill patients. The convicted businessman, Joseph Caramadre, was also a donor to McAuliffe's failed 2009 bid for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia. Caramadre donated more than $26 thousand to McAuliffe and hosted a fundraiser for the candidate. Caramadre(Court sketch of Caramadre courtesy of WJAR) According to our NBC affiliate in Providence WJAR, there is no evidence that...