Just another $292 Million…
It hurts my heart a little to admit that $292 million doesn’t sound like a whole lot right off hand. But it IS a lot of money. And another NYC scumbag has bilked the banks. Meet Hassan Nemazee.
A federal grand jury charged Hassan Nemazee, a New York businessman who has ties to prominent politicians, with defrauding banks of $292 million in part to benefit the Democratic Party.
Mr. Nemazee, 59 years old, used the proceeds of his scheme to donate to campaigns and political-action committees, according to an indictment made public Monday, though the amount allegedly spent on these efforts wasn’t specified. The donations helped him rise to become finance chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, among other major roles.
A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said the DNC, Obama for America, and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, which organized President Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities, would donate to charity $61,700 of contributions Mr. Nemazee made during the 2008-09 election cycle.
So to summarize what actually happened, Nemazee faked documents to get loans, and hit three major banks since 1998. It sort of sounds like a movie plot, doesn’t it? I’m envisioning Nick Cage playing a con man living the Manhattan playboy style life. Anyway, last month, he owed $142 million to Bank of America and $75 million to Citibank. He got busted for the Citibank fraud, and what did he do? Borrow the money to repay them from someone else, naturally. He his HSBC bank next to repay Citibank.
So what does someone do with that kind of money?
Mr. Nemzaee, who has long ties to former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as other party leaders, also allegedly used illegally obtained money to donate to charities and buy a yacht and property in Italy, according to the indictment.
For more than ten years, Hassan Nemazee projected the illusion of wealth, stealing more than $290 million so that he could lead a lavish lifestyle and play the part of heavyweight political fundraiser,” Preet Bharara, the new U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement.
That’s right. Raise even MORE money for the Democrats. Well played Nemazee. And now, you’re in jail.