FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2000 (202) 616-2777
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY SENTENCED IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASE
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00-601
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETHURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2000
(202) 616-2777
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY SENTENCED IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Carmine Alampi, a Bergen County New Jersey attorney, was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine by a New Jersey federal court for violating federal election law by making a contribution to the campaign of a United States Senator in his own name and being reimbursed by funds he received from a former partner of his law firm, who in turn received the funds from a client of the law firm. Alampi also solicited an associate of the firm to make a donation which he reimbursed with the client's funds he received from his former partner.
Alampi is one of 25 persons charged by the Campaign Financing Task Force, which was established by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate allegations of campaign financing abuses in the 1996 election cycle.
In December of 1999, Alampi pleaded guilty to a one-count information filed in U.S. District Court in Newark. The information alleged alleged that during the 1996 election cycle, Alampi, a partner in the Englewood Cliffs Law Firm of Smith, Don, Alampi, D'Argenio & Arturi, aided and abetted his former partner Berek Don in making illegal campaign contributions to United States Senator Robert Torricelli's 1996 Campaign. By his plea, Alampi admitted that he made $2,000 in illegal contributions to the Torricelli campaign. Alampi made a $1,000 contribution in his own name that was reimbursed by the client's funds he received from Berek Don and he solicited an associate of the law firm to make a $1,000 donation which he reimbursed with the client's funds he received from Don.
The Task Force is acting as the U.S. Attorney in Newark in the Alampi case because the former U.S. Attorney recused herself from the case. Under the plea agreement, Alampi agreed to cooperate in the Task Force's ongoing investigation. The case has been investigated by the Newark Divisions of the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
A provision of the Federal Elections Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits campaign contributions in the name of another person. For his offense, Alampi faced a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000 or 300 percent of the illegal contributions. Due in part to his cooperation with federal prosecutors, Alampi was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine.
During his plea hearing, Alampi admitted to U.S. District Judge Alfred M. Wolin that he was a member of the fund-raising committee for the Torricelli for Senate Campaign and that he knew that federal law prohibited campaign contributions by individuals in excess of $1,000 per individual, per campaign, in an election cycle, and banned campaign contributions in the name of another person.
In addition to Alampi, the Task Force has charged 24 other individuals and one corporation for offenses relating to violations of the campaign financing laws.
On June 21, 2000, Pauline Kanchanalak, a Thai national and Duangnet Kronenberg, pleaded guilty to campaign financing-related offenses. Kanchanalak pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to cause false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission from 1992-1996. Her husband, Duangnet Kronenberg, pleaded guilty to a causing an illegal corporate contribution to the Democratic National Committee.
On June 6, 2000, Audrey Yu, an employee of David Chang, pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., to conspiring to obstruct justice by providing a false document to a federal district court during the grand jury's investigation into campaign financing violations in New Jersey.
On June 2, 2000, David Chang pled guilty to charges that as a principal of Nikko Enterprises, Bright & Bright Corporation, Panacom Inc., and Hudson Terrace Realty Management Corporation, he conspired to funnel illegal campaign contributions to Senator Robert Torricelli's 1996 campaign. Chang also pled guilty to four substantive violations of the FECA for his role in funneling illegal campaign contributions in others names. Chang further pled guilty to corruptly attempting to persuade a potential grand jury witness to give false statements related to a financial transaction which was material to the grand jury investigation.
On June 1, 2000, Cha-Kuek Koo, a Korean national residing in New Jersey, pled guilty to violating federal election law by making illegal contributions to Senator Torricelli's campaign. Koo admitted to assisting David Chang in making conduit contributions using Koo's employees at LG Group, Executive Office of the Americas.
On April 5, 2000, a federal grand jury 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. Yi Chu and Man Ho remain fugitives.
On March 2, 2000, Maria Hsia was convicted in federal district court in Washington, 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 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.
On May 27, 1999 Berek Don, former GOP party leader in Bergen County, NJ, pled guilty to another conduit contribution scheme to the Senator Torricelli Campaign. Don awaits sentencing.
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.
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 Lum's 1994 tax return. After cooperating with the government, he was sentenced in June 1999, to two years in prison. Nora Lum was sentenced to 5 months in a halfway house, 5 months in home detention, and ordered to pay a $30,000 fine, a sentence which Gene Lum also served separate and apart from the sentence he received for his tax-related conviction. 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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