NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Norman Hsu, a Democratic Party fundraiser, was charged in New York Thursday with running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $60 million.
The federal complaint, unsealed Thursday, also charged Hsu with violating federal campaign finance laws by making contributions to political candidates in the names of others, said Michael J. Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Hsu was charged with one count each of mail fraud and wire fraud, and one count of violating the Federal Election Campaign Act, Garcia said in a news release. If convicted, Hsu faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on the mail fraud charge, 20 years’ imprisonment on the wire fraud charge, and five years’ imprisonment on the federal campaign finance charge.
Garcia's office said two companies Hsu presented as legitimate and profitable to investors were vehicles for Hsu’s Ponzi scheme, in which money owed as returns to older investors was paid with money received from newer investors.
Hsu had become one of the Democratic Party’s largest contributors and raised thousands more from other donors.
After Hsu was arrested and his status as a fugitive became public, candidates said they would turn over his contributions to charity.
