Opinion: BREAKING NEWS: Fugitive Dem fundraiser disappears, again
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Norman Hsu, the bigtime Democratic Party fundraiser who was a fugitive from a pending prison term for years while raising money for prominent Democrats including Sen. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, failed to appear for a bail hearing in Redwood City, Calif. this morning.
His lawyer says he has no idea where his client is. And Hsu did not turn in his passport as required.
An arrest warrant was issued.
Hsu pleaded no contest in 1992 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he’d defrauded investors of $1 million in a bogus investment scam. Prosecutors say he was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before being sentenced.
Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated more than a quarter-million dollars to Democrats and their party since 2004. The Times’ Dan Morain has the full story here.
By not appearing, Hsu forfeits his request to cut his $2 million bond in half.
Maybe he had a sudden fundraiser of his own to attend.
--Andrew Malcolm