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TWO INDICTMENTS FILED FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT

WASHINGTON, D.C.- A federal grand jury today indicted two Buddhist nuns, Venerables Yi Chu and Man Ho, with contempt of court for failing to appear as witnesses in the government's criminal trial against Maria Hsia, the Campaign Financing Task Force announced. Despite their non-appearance, a jury found Hsia guilty of causing five false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission.

The one-count indictment, returned today in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., charged the two with violating their subpoenas by not appearing in last month's criminal case, which was prosecuted by members of the Campaign Financing Task Force. The Task Force was

established by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate allegations of campaign financing abuses in the1996 election cycle.

"Our criminal justice system depends on witnesses complying with subpoenas," said Robert J. Conrad, Jr., Chief of the Campaign Financing Task Force. "No person is above the law, and no one can ignore a subpoena compelling her to appear at trial. Any person who fails to appear as required in a federal criminal trial may be charged with contempt of court."

The two had been subpoenaed in May 1998. On January 24, 2000, the U.S. District Court judge denied their motion to quash the subpoenas and directed that they appear before the court on January 28, 2000 at 9:00 a.m. upon pain of contempt.

All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

In addition to the two nuns, the Campaign Financing Task Force has prosecuted 22 additional individuals for offenses relating to campaign financing laws.

On Friday, March 31, 2000, David Chang of Crosskill, New Jersey was charged with causing false statements to be made by the Senatorial campaign of Robert Torricelli to the FEC, and conspiring with others to defraud the United States. The same indictment charged Chang, in a separate conspiracy, to obstruct the Newark Grand Jury's investigation of the scheme, along with Audrey Yu of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Ms. Yu was also charged with perjury.

On March 2, 2000, Maria Hsia was convicted in D.C. on charges of causing false statements to be submitted to the FEC. The trial had been postponed pending an appeal of a ruling by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., which had dismissed some of the false statement counts. In May 1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. overturned the ruling and reinstated those counts. The task force dismissed a second indictment on tax charges after a jury in Los Angeles failed to reach a verdict.

On December 17, 1999, Yogesh Gandhi was sentenced to one year in prison for mail fraud, tax evasion, and violating federal election laws by aiding and abetting the making of a political campaign contribution by a foreign national.

On December 1, 1999, Carmine Alampi, a Bergen County New Jersey attorney, entered his guilty plea in United States District Court in Newark, New Jersey, to a one-count Information filed by the Campaign Financing Task Force alleging his illegal campaign contributions to United States Senator Robert Torricelli's 1996 Campaign.

On November 1, 1999, Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie, a Little Rock, Arkansas businessman, was sentenced, after pleading guilty, to a two-count information filed in Little Rock, Arkansas, to three years probation, four months home detention, 200 hours of community service, and a $5,000 fine for violating federal campaign finance laws by making political contributions in someone else's name and by causing a false statement to be made the FEC. Antonio Pan was also indicted with Trie in the District of Columbia, but has not yet been prosecuted because he has remained outside the United States.

On September 15, 1999, Lawrence Penna, the former President of a now-defunct New Jersey securities firm, was charged with violating election laws by funneling illegal campaign contributions to the 1996 federal election campaigns of President Clinton and Senator Torricelli. Penna's case was transferred by agreement to the Southern District of New York where charges relating to his violation of United States' securities laws were pending.

On August 16, 1999, a federal judge sentenced Robert S. Lee to three years of probation and 250 hours of community service for aiding and abetting the making of an illegal foreign campaign contribution to the Democratic National Committee.

On August 12, 1999, former Lippo Executive John Huang pleaded guilty to a felony charge, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, that he conspired with other employees of the Indonesia-based Lippo Group to make campaign contributions and reimburse employees with corporate funds or with funds from Indonesia. He was sentenced to one year of probation, 500 hours of community service, a $10,000 fine and directed by the judge to continue cooperating with the investigation as a condition of his probation.

In June 1999, Berek Don, former GOP party leader in Bergen County, NJ, also pleaded guilty to making illegal contributions to the Torricelli Campaign. The Don, Alampi, and Penna cases were also investigated by the FBI's Newark Division.

On March 23, 1999, Juan C. Ortiz, the Chief Financial Officer of Future Tech International, Inc., was sentenced to two years probation, $20,000 in fines, and 200 hours in community service for acting as a conduit for an illegal campaign contribution and participating in the reimbursement of eight other conduit contributions.

On December 14, 1998, Johnny Chung was sentenced to probation and 3,000 hours of community service for bank fraud, tax evasion and two misdemeanor counts of conspiring to violate election law.

On November 24, 1998, Howard Glicken, a fund-raiser for the Democratic party, was sentenced to 18 months probation, an $80,000 fine, and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service for violating campaign finance laws.

On November 4, 1998, Franklin Haney was indicted on more than 40 counts, including among others, conspiring with another to defraud the United States by impairing and impeding the FEC and conspiring to violate specific provisions of federal election law. He was acquitted of all charges on June 30, 1999.

On September 30, 1998, Democratic fund-raiser Mark B. Jimenez was indicted in Washington, D.C. on 17 counts of organizing, making and concealing illegal conduit contributions to a number of Democratic campaigns, including the Torricelli Campaign. In December 1998, Future Tech International, Jimenez's Miami based computer sales company, pleaded guilty to tax offenses resulting from its illegal deduction of a $100,000 contribution to the DNC and employee campaign contributions reimbursed through the company's payroll. On April, 15, 1999, Jimenez, who is now in the Philippines, was indicted in Miami on additional charges of tax evasion and fraud. The task force is pursuing Jimenez's extradition from the Philippines.

On July 13, 1998, DNC fund-raiser Pauline Kanchanalak and her business associate Duangnet "Georgie" Kronenerg were charged with conspiring to impair and impede the FEC, and causing the submission of false statements to the FEC. Trial is scheduled for November 2000.

In 1997, the Task Force obtained guilty pleas from Democratic fund-raisers Nora and Gene Lum, and their daughter Trisha, and Michael Brown for illegal fund-raising activities after their cases were referred from Independent Counsel Daniel Pearson. In August 1998, Gene Lum pleaded guilty to filing a false 1994 tax return and falsely preparing Nora's 1994 tax return. After cooperating with the government, he was sentenced in June 1999, to two years in prison. Nora was sentenced to 5 months in a halfway house, 5 months in home detention, and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine. Trisha Lum and Michael Brown each received probation, a $5,000 fine, costs of more than $7,000, and were ordered to perform 150 hours of community service.

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