Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040

    Democratic campaign veteran arrested in mail fraud

    Democratic campaign veteran arrested in mail fraud

    The Associated Press
    Published: Saturday, Sep. 3, 2011 - 7:31 pm

    LOS ANGELES -- A longtime Democratic campaign treasurer who has worked for dozens of state, federal and local politicians in California has been arrested on suspicion of mail fraud, officials said Saturday.

    Kinde Durkee, who heads Durkee & Associates in Burbank, was arrested Friday afternoon by the FBI on a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sacramento, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek. No further details were available.

    The arrest was first reported by the Orange County Register (http://bit.ly/q9KhrN).

    A phone message left at Durkee's office by The Associated Press was not immediately returned. She is expected to appear in a Southern California court Tuesday.

    State Sen. Lou Correa of Santa Ana told the Register the FBI notified him late Friday that he was one of many victims. Correa said he believes he has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds. Durkee had been his campaign treasurer since 1995.

    Federal Election Commission records show Durkee is treasurer for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, a host of state assemblymen and senators, city councilmen and political action committees.

    The California Fair Political Practices Commission has taken action against her four times, mainly for failing to report transactions or information, and sent her a dozen warning letters. She also stipulated to a violation from San Diego's Ethics Commission.

    Durkee's website said the business specializes in political accounting and has been operating since 1972.

    http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/03/388348 ... ested.html
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 08-14-2015 at 05:04 PM.
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    Kinde Durkee short in restitution for $10.5-million theft

    January 17, 2014|By Patrick McGreevy



    Campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee was convicted of stealing $10.5 million… (Henry Vandermeir / Associated…)

    SACRAMENTO -- More than a year after campaign treasurer Kinde Durkee was ordered to repay $10.5 million she embezzled from the accounts of dozens of politicians, including U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, federal officials say they have only been able to recover $94,468.60 from liquidation of her assets to go to restitution.

    In November 2012, Durkee was sentenced to eight years in federal prison and ordered to repay the money she stole from 77 victims, mostly politicians from California, including the campaign committees of Feinstein and Democratic Reps. Laura Richardson of Long Beach, Loretta Sanchez of Garden Grove and Susan A. Davis of San Diego.


    Federal prosecutors allege that Durkee used money from clients’ accounts to pay for Disneyland tickets, ice cream and other expenses billed to her credit cards, as well as to pay her mortgage and for residential care for a relative and office expenses to keep her failing business afloat.


    Feinstein’s campaign committees lost the most, at least $4.5 million, according to the court filings.


    Federal officials liquidated Durkee’s retirement account and sold her Burbank office building but have come up with less than $100,000, according to Lauren Horwood, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.




    Justin Berger, an attorney for Feinstein’s campaign committees, said his law firm is still pursuing financial claims against the bank Durkee used, but he was not shocked that the liquidation of Durkee’s assets have yielded a fraction of what she stole.

    “It’s disappointing but not surprising,” Berger said. “We think the money was frittered away over the years. There is no big pot of money sitting somewhere.”

    http://articles.latimes.com/2014/jan...ution-20140116

    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    PARADISE (San Diego)
    Posts
    99,040
    Bank settles in California political fraud case



    By ASSOCIATED PRESS | 7/17/14 9:27 PM EDT


    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California bank that handled the accounts of a former campaign treasurer for several high-profile Democratic politicians has agreed to pay $4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the bank should have known the treasurer was embezzling money, attorneys for the politicians and the bank said Thursday.


    The agreement reached with First California Bank includes $2 million for the campaign account of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She estimated that she had lost $4.5 million when it was revealed that her longtime treasurer, Kinde Durkee, had been carrying on an elaborate shell game in which she regularly shifted money between her clients' accounts while she siphoned off millions of dollars.


    Durkee pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud last year and was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison. She was ordered to pay $10.5 million in restitution, even though she had few assets.

    Feinstein and several other lawmakers and political committees sued First California Bank, alleging there was a "pervasive pattern of misconduct" and that the bank was at the heart of Durkee's illegal transfers.


    Joe Cotchett, who represented Feinstein, said the attorneys had evidence that bank employees knew about the fraud based on emails and other correspondence they were able to obtain.


    "We finally got the hard drive from the FBI. We were able to look at that and get emails that certainly tracked the allegations we made," he said.


    Feinstein's staff did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.


    (Also on POLITICO: Clinton: Europe must lead on plane react)


    Thomas Nolan, an attorney who represented First California Bank, said the bank does not acknowledge that it was "culpable, engaged in any wrongdoing, or had any knowledge of fraudulent wrongdoing."


    "Any monies were lost through their own negligence in not monitoring or not reading their own bank statements," Nolan said.


    He said the plaintiffs agreed in court this week to settle the case the same day a judge was scheduled to hear arguments on the bank's petition to throw out the case.


    The settlement has not yet been filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.


    Attorney Wylie Aitken, who represented clients that include Reps. Linda and Loretta Sanchez, who are sisters, said bank officials overlooked several red flags because they didn't want to lose Durkee's business. That included illegal transfers between federal and state campaign accounts.


    "She was one of their personal customers; they were giving her favors for being one of their better depositors of monies," he said.


    Aitken said the bank continued to pay funds even when Durkee's checks bounced.


    The $4 million settlement is being distributed to candidates based on their losses. Other recipients include campaign committees for:

    - State Sen. Lou Correa, $378,000.
    - Former state Assemblyman Jose Solorio, who is running for state Senate, $330,000.
    - Rep. Loretta Sanchez, $175,000.
    - Rep. Linda Sanchez, $150,000.
    - National Popular Vote, $600,000.

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/0...#ixzz3ip7uRX73
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


    Sign in and post comments here.

    Please support our fight against illegal immigration by joining ALIPAC's email alerts here https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  5. #5
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Heart of Dixie
    Posts
    36,012

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •