Thread: Mexican Tycoon Charged in San Diego Campaign Finance Case

Mexican Tycoon Charged in San Diego Campaign Finance Case

By AP/Elliot SpagatFeb. 20, 2014Add a Comment

(SAN DIEGO) — A Mexican business tycoon was charged Thursday with illegally funneling more than $500,000 to support San Diego politicians in a widening campaign finance scandal.

Jose Susmo Azano, 48, pleaded not guilty in federal court to being a foreign national who provided campaign contributions.

Prosecutors contend that Azano and several other people were involved in illegal donations to independent committees backing candidates for mayor and Congress in 2012 and 2013.

Azano heads Grupo Azano SA, a conglomerate of construction and security companies based in Guadalajara, Mexico. Last month, the FBI raided two homes linked to Azano in the wealthy San Diego suburb of Coronado after the first criminal charges in the investigation were unsealed.

Charges filed last month didn’t offer a motive. But a prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Perry, said at a bail hearing for one of the defendants that the businessman wanted to develop property in San Diego and turn its downtown waterfront into “Miami West.”

The complaints filed last month describe a $100,000 donation to support one mayoral candidate, $190,000 to help another mayoral candidate and $30,000 for a candidate for federal office.

The complaints also mention an unidentified “straw donor” who allegedly took a $380,000 check from the businessman to funnel the donations.

Previously charged in the case were Ernesto Encinas, who provided security to Azano; Ravneet Singh and his Washington-based campaign services firm ElectionMall Inc., and Marco Polo Cortes, a San Diego lobbyist.

San Diego, the nation’s eighth-largest city, is home to many wealthy Mexicans who cross daily from Tijuana. Others, including Azano, have second homes on the shores of pricey Coronado or La Jolla.

Read more: Mexican Tycoon Charged in San Diego Campaign Finance Case | TIME.com http://swampland.time.com/2014/02/20...#ixzz2tyZaP45U

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http://www.alipac.us/f9/mexican-puts...ctions-296323/

Mexican millionaire accused of illegally funneling $600,000 into local campaigns

Posted: Feb 21, 2014 6:59 AM PSTUpdated: Feb 21, 2014 6:59 AM PST

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A Mexican millionaire accused of funneling $600,000 into San Diego political campaigns pleaded not guilty Thursday to a federal charge of campaign contributions by a foreign national.

Jose Azano Matsura was arrested Wednesday by the FBI, and an indictment was unsealed Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Perry moved to detain Azano, telling Magistrate Judge Mitchell Dembin that the defendant was a flight risk and a danger if released.

Perry said Azano is a Mexican citizen and has only a border-crossing card that was set to be revoked by the U.S. State Department.

The prosecutor alleged Azano was at the center of a large scale fraud, possibly one of the biggest in San Diego County history, if not the country, and argued that Azano's alleged actions were a threat to the political election system in the United States.

The prosecutor said witnesses told authorities that Azano referred to his ability to have people killed, and a loaded gun was found last month in a search of Azano's home.

But defense attorney Knut Johnson said Azano wouldn't abandon his family -- who are U.S. citizens -- and would stay in San Diego to fight the charges.

Dembin allowed Azano to post a $5 million bond, to be secured by the equity in one of his two homes in Coronado.

Marco Polo Cortes, a local lobbyist, and Ravneet Singh, the owner of the Washington, D.C.-based campaign services company ElectionMall, are also charged in the case.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Cortes, Singh, ElectionMall and former San Diego Police Department Detective Ernesto Encinas after the three were arrested and charged in a complaint filed last month.

Last week, Encinas waived his right requiring prosecutors to present their case to the grand jury.

Cortes, Singh and Encinas are accused of trying to hide the source of the large donations to local campaigns, including the 2012 mayoral campaigns of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Bob Filner.

It is illegal for non-citizens to contribute to U.S. election campaigns.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the donor -- Azano -- wanted to turn San Diego's bayfront into a West Coast version of Miami.

http://www.kusi.com/story/24786031/mexican-millionaire-accused-of-illegally-funneling-600000-into-local-campaigns

Perry said Azano is a Mexican citizen and has only a border-crossing card that was set to be revoked by the U.S. State Department.

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Does this mean Azano's no longer eligible to be mayor of San Diego or run for POTUS?

Surely Eric Holder can find a job somewhere in our Justice Department for Azano.

Wow! This makes it clear as day!

W

Democrats still have $30K of foreign cash

Party says it will hold tainted funds in trust for now

By Jeff McDonald4:56 P.M.FEB. 21, 2014

WATCHDOG MINUTE: KEEPING THE CASH

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One month after pledging to dispose of $30,000 pegged by prosecutors as an illegal campaign contribution from a foreign national, the Democratic Party of San Diego County has yet to send back or donate the money.

Instead, the contribution was deposited into an escrow account controlled by the party until federal or state officials tell them where it should go, Chairwoman Francine Busby told U-T Watchdog.

Busby said it was not clear whether the money should be returned to the original donor or given to the state or federal government, so the party attorney recommended holding it in trust.

“We are not expecting to keep the money, but to ensure that we don’t send it to the wrong place our attorney has advised that we take this step pending more information and direction from legal authorities,” she said.

Busby declined to identify the attorney or provide a copy of the legal opinion.

U-T Watchdog surveyed 10 politicians and political groups that apparently accepted money originating from Mexican tycoon Jose Susumo Azano Matsura, who pleaded not guilty on Thursday of an illegal effort to funnel $600,000 of his funds into local campaigns.

Seven either returned the funds or are in the process of identifying a charity to accept the donations.

Two recipients — former Mayor Bob Filner and Congressman Juan Vargas — did not respond to requests asking what they did with the contributions. Vargas’ campaign stated earlier that it planned to return the money, but the purpose of the follow-up survey by the Watchdog was to confirm funds had been disposed.

Experts say the sooner politicians rid themselves of questionable donations the better.

“In today’s political environment, keeping the money is not an option,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. “Voters are cynical and voters are suspicious. There is a brighter line than ever about what is right and what is wrong.”

Other groups responding to the Watchdog survey indicated they quickly rid themselves of the suspicious contributions.

“We have returned all contributions in the current campaign that we are able to determine came from those charged in the criminal complaint or their family members,” said Jennifer Tierney, a consultant to District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis.

She said the organization is working to find a charity to accept $10,000 that was given to now-defunct campaigns of Dumanis.

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee donated the $30,000 it collected in the Azano case to the U.S. Treasury on Jan. 28, a spokesman said.

Attorney Leon Page said giving back campaign funds is not all that complicated a process.

“The first thing I would do is call the technical assistance line at the Fair Political Practices Commission,” said Page, who also is a member of the MiraCosta College board of trustees. “It’s a 1-800 number. Good people are standing by.”

Azano is accused by federal prosecutors of steering funds into local political campaigns through a series of straw donors and shell companies. It is against the law for foreign citizens to contribute to U.S. political campaigns.

Three others are accused in the scheme — former San Diego police detective Ernesto Encinas, local lobbyist Marco Polo Cortes and Washington D.C. campaign consultant Ravneet Singh.

All have pleaded not guilty.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/...held-in-trust/