NRCC Treasurer Accused of Campaign Fraud
Ward Transferred Funds to Personal Accounts, Officials Say
By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee transferred as much as $1 million in committee funds into his personal and business accounts, officials announced today, describing a scheme that could prove to be one of the largest campaign frauds in recent history.
For at least four years, Christopher J. Ward, who is under investigation by the FBI, used wire transfers to funnel money out of the NRCC and into other political committees he controlled, then shifted the funds into his own personal accounts, the committee said.
"The evidence we have today indicated we have been deceived and betrayed for a number of years by a highly respected and trusted individual," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), NRCC chairman.
The committee also announced that it had submitted to banks five years of audits and financial documents allegedly forged by Ward, some of which were used to secure multimillion-dollar loans. It is a violation of federal bank fraud laws to obtain loans through false statements; such crimes are punishable by up to $1 million in fines and 30 years in prison.
(Continued here.)
By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee transferred as much as $1 million in committee funds into his personal and business accounts, officials announced today, describing a scheme that could prove to be one of the largest campaign frauds in recent history.
For at least four years, Christopher J. Ward, who is under investigation by the FBI, used wire transfers to funnel money out of the NRCC and into other political committees he controlled, then shifted the funds into his own personal accounts, the committee said.
"The evidence we have today indicated we have been deceived and betrayed for a number of years by a highly respected and trusted individual," said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), NRCC chairman.
The committee also announced that it had submitted to banks five years of audits and financial documents allegedly forged by Ward, some of which were used to secure multimillion-dollar loans. It is a violation of federal bank fraud laws to obtain loans through false statements; such crimes are punishable by up to $1 million in fines and 30 years in prison.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
This story has been “dripping” out for a few weeks.
Why would did the Republicans object so strongly to the new House ethics rules … you would have thought after this disaster that they would want transparency in all their dealings.
Politico has had a couple good stories – most recently . John Kline, who co-chairs the management committee has been mum on the subject and Tom Cole may have been passed over for a House Appropriations Committee assignment because of this lack of oversight. Hard to believe that the Republicans would ever have lack of oversight of anything, huh.
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