After Democratic financier Hassan Nemazee was accused of forging loan documents in order to borrow $74 million from Citibank, he wired the money back. A nice try, but not one that would stave off his arrest. Authorities arrested Nemazee on Aug. 25, shortly before he left on a European vacation. He was charged with bank fraud, released on a $25 million bond and placed under house arrest in his New York City apartment. Nemazee, who raised money for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the 2008 election, faces a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
Fast Facts:
• Born January 27, 1950 to Iranian parents in Washington, D.C.
• Graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts from Harvard University in 1972.
• Started a life insurance venture in Iran as part of a partnership with AIG after college, but plans were derailed by the fall of the Shah in 1979.
• Became a real-estate developer with a series of projects in Houston in the early 1980s. Founded an investment firm, Nemazee Capital, in 1987.
• Because a U.S. citizen in 1996.
• Nominated in 1999 by President Clinton to become the U.S. ambassador to Argentina. Withdrew from consideration before a confirmation vote.
• Member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 2004.
• Served as National Finance Chair for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.
• Reportedly raised $100,000 for Clinton's 2008 campaign, and went on to raise $500,000 for Barack Obama after Clinton bowed out of the race in June.
• Accused of defrauding Citibank of $74 million after allegedly forging loan documents dating back to Dec. 2006.
Quotes By:
"The Clinton campaign has done as much if not more than any campaign to protect itself from situations such as this, and none of the other campaigns — other than hypocritically — can point a finger at the Clinton campaign on fundraising problems."
— Nemazee, responding to Nov. 2007 criticism of the Hillary Clinton campaign for accepting money from disgraced fundraiser Norman Hsu. Like Hsu, Nemazee was a fundraiser for Clinton at the time.
"I think the real story here is, quite apart from the media speculation that he would be difficult to deal with, his actions have proven that he has been quite the opposite. The fact that the president went there, and carried off a successful trip, I think this has had a very profound impact."
— Nemazee, identified by the Washington Times as "a friend and longtime Clinton supporter," commenting on Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea, Aug. 6.
Quotes About:
" either never existed or had been closed years before Nemazee submitted the documents referencing those accounts."
—U.S. attorney Preet Bharara on Aug. 26, describing how authorities believe Nemazee mislead Citibank with false financial documents in order to obtain a multi-million dollar loan.
"Given the serious nature of the charges that Nemazee faces, the Democrats should immediately return any and all of the contributions that they received from this disgraced financier to preserve the integrity of their fundraising efforts in 2010."
— Rob Jesmer, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in an e-mail after Nemazee's arrest.
"Both parties have so many people in these categories. This seems less a personal failure of Clinton and Obama than a more structural problem."
—Clyde Wilcox, professor of government at Georgetown University, on the legal troubles of campaign financiers, Bloomberg, Aug. 26.
"I just don't know what to say — I find it almost incomprehensible. I don't know what's happening in this world."
— Alan Patricof, finance co-chair on the Clinton's 2008 campaign, PolitikerNY, Aug. 25.
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