-Caveat Lector- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A49876-2001Jan11.html Riady Will Admit Illegal Donations Plea Deal Provides Fine, No Jail Term By Susan Schmidt Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 12, 2001; Page A01 Indonesian banking magnate James Riady has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to illegally funnel foreign funds to the campaigns of President Clinton and other U.S. politicians, federal prosecutors said yesterday. Riady has agreed to pay a record $8.6 million fine for the election law violations, but will receive no jail time under a deal with prosecutors. Riady is a principal in the family-owned Lippo Group, a financial services conglomerate whose campaign largess has been scrutinized for three years by Congress and the Justice Department's campaign finance task force. Documents filed by prosecutors yesterday in Los Angeles lay out in detail how Riady and John Huang, a former Lippo employee in the United States, moved hundreds of thousands of dollars from Lippo-owned firms abroad into political campaigns here. Riady is to appear in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday for sentencing; Huang pleaded guilty to similar charges in 1999. Riady has admitted he and Huang provided money to political campaigns to influence American politicians on matters of interest to Lippo, including gaining normal trade status for China, open-trade policies with Indonesia, normalization of relations with Vietnam and regulatory exemptions for LippoBank, a Lippo subsidiary in Los Angeles. The plea bargain with Riady comes just days before Clinton leaves office and a new Republican administration takes over the Justice Department. The deal is believed to be one of the last major outstanding issues remaining for the department's campaign finance task force, which brought the case. "It was at the point when it was ready to go and a decision had to be made," said a Justice Department official last night. As part of the deal, Riady agreed to cooperate and has already been questioned by investigators examining allegations of possible Chinese espionage and whether $100,000 that Lippo paid to Clinton friend Webster Hubbell was intended to buy his silence in the Whitewater investigation. The office of independent counsel, which has also investigated Hubbell, indicated that the deal was in the best interest of its investigation and that the information provided by Riady assisted its office, Justice Department officials said. The Riady sentencing agreement calls for two years' probation in addition to the $8.6 million fine. He also will be required to perform 400 hours of community service. Justice Department officials said that the lack of an extradition treaty with Indonesia, where Riady lives, made it impossible to demand jail time, and that campaign finance violations are generally misdemeanor charges. Under the plea arrangement, Riady and LippoBank will plead guilty to felony conspiracy charges, and all but $10,000 of the fine to be paid by Riady will be levied against LippoBank. "You can do the plea deal or Riady is never brought to justice," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan O'Brien in Los Angeles. O'Brien has had numerous debriefing sessions with Riady in Jakarta and Zurich, and Riady will have to continue to be available to criminal and congressional investigators. Riady's two children are U.S. citizens. Under the deal, he can seek to reenter the United States in two years. The documents filed by prosecutors note that Riady pledged $1 million in support to Clinton during his first presidential campaign, in 1992. Under the scheme outlined by prosecutors, Huang got his employees at LippoBank in Los Angeles to make contributions, then he reimbursed them with funds Riady had sent from Lippo entities abroad. In addition to donations to Clinton's campaign, contributions went to other, mostly Democratic candidates in California and other parts of the country, as well as Democratic Party committees. Attorneys for Riady stressed that Riady has cooperated with the Justice Department and that his cooperation is voluntary. "Mr. Riady is a successful Asian businessman and community leader. After being accused in the press of being a Chinese spy, someone who gives hush money and a fugitive from justice, Mr. Riady is very pleased that the Department of Justice has been able to learn that none of these charges are true," said Washington attorney Abbe D. Lowell in a statement yesterday. He placed much of the blame on Huang, saying that Riady "regrets not being more vigilant when his associates were supporting various campaigns in the U.S." � 2001 The Washington Post Company ================================================================= Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================= <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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