Results tagged “normanhsu”

Norman Hsu, who helped raise millions for Democrats like Hillary Clinton, was sentenced to 24 years "for bilking hundreds of investors of millions of dollars in a nationwide Ponzi scheme and committing campaign finance fraud." The scam: "[Using] his squeaky-clean reputation to bilk investors in his Ponzi scheme out of $50 million to $100 million, claiming they could see returns of 14% to 20% on clothing and high-technology ventures." The judge who sentenced him said that Hsu's actions "strike at the very core of our democracy." The 58-year-old, who plans to appeal, said, "I made a huge mistake, a terrible mistake."

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a home invasion robbery on 11th St. in Brooklyn, an unusual rescue on Selwyn Ave. in the Bronx, and a shooting on Rugby Rd. and Foster Ave. in Brooklyn.
• The 30-year-old homeless man charged with raping and torturing a Columbia student in her apartment in April was found mentally fit to stand trial.
• Negotiations between Thor Equities and several Coney Island boardwalk tenants are nearly settled, allowing many attractions to remain through next summer.
• New York magazine notes that NYC may soon receive a movie theater that has a no-children-under-the-age-of-six policy.
• Norman Hsu, one of Sen. Clinton's primary fundraisers during her run for the Presidency, is being charged by federal prosecutors with running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding people of tens of millions of dollars.
• A Brooklyn car salesman scammed rides on a fire truck with members of a Bed-Stuy firehouse after producing a forged letter and bearing stolen FDNY gear.
• Not getting too far by striking, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance is now suing the city to prevent the mandatory installation of GPS equipment in cabs.
• As he led cops on a 70 mph chase through the streets of Flatbush before allegedly shooting officer Dillon Stewart, accused killer Allan Cameron was watching a porn movie on the DVD player in his Infiniti.
• Best use of 9/11 in a new fall season program (so far): Kitchen Nightmares, when a Long Island restaurant "owner," upon Gordon Ramsay criticizing him about the state of a kitchen, "blame everything on me! Blame fires in Chicago, Hurricane Katrina, 9-11" (via Television Without Pity)

The prominent Democratic party donor and California fugitive Norman Hsu's connection to New York City's New School is examined in the NY Times today. Hsu donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to national Democrats like Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to governors like Eliot Spitzer of NY and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, and NYC politicians like City Council members Christine Quinn and John Liu and City Comptroller William Thompson. Hsu, who had been wanted by California authorities since 1992 for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme, was going to surrender himself last Wednesday, but ended up on a train to Denver.

Thought Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hilary Clinton appeared at a press conference to discuss health coverage of New York children, they had to answer questions about campaign donations they accepted from fugitive apparel executive Norman Hsu. Clinton received $23,000 from Hsu and announced that she would donate the money to charity after revelations that Hsu has been wanted in California for defrauding California investors since 1991. Hsu has fled to Hong Kong but has been living in New York as a high-profile donor since 2003. Guess when those cases grow cold, they stay cold.