http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1231082hsu1.html

Obama And That Other Ponzi Scheme
President-elect's name may emerge in Norman Hsu fraud trial

 DECEMBER 31--As if being linked to one high-profile criminal case 
weren't enough, President-elect Barack Obama's name may soon pop up in 
another federal prosecution, this one involving a massive Ponzi scheme 
(no, the other massive Ponzi scheme). In addition to the Rod Blagojevich 
pay-for-play probe, Obama could figure in the upcoming fraud trial of 
Norman Hsu, the disgraced Democratic fundraiser who was charged last 
year with operating a $60 million pyramid scheme. According to 
investigators, Hsu, a major Hillary Clinton fundraiser, pressured 
investors to donate money to political candidates with whom he was 
aligned. In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Victor 
Marrero, Hsu's lawyer, Martin Cohen, requested a 60-day delay in the 
start of Hsu's trial, scheduled to open January 12 (Cohen cited the 
"extraordinary level of negative publicity" generated by the recent 
arrest of alleged Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff). In his December 22 
letter, a copy of which you'll find below, Cohen also noted that Hsu was 
already "notorious for his political activities" and that it was 
"inevitable" that his client's "connections" to Bill
and Hillary Clinton 
"and other democratic notables--including perhaps the president-elect--
will be introduced at trial." Before becoming a key fundraiser for 
Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California 
fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the 
Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist 
who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. 
Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to 
specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal 
campaign laws. Unswayed by Cohen's argument, Marrero declined to delay 
the trial, which will begin a week before Obama's inauguration. (6 
pages)

Click on the links on this page to see the entire 6 page court filing

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Carbon Dioxide makes up just 32 parts per million of atmosphere ....


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