Log In | Register
NEW YORK — Prosecutors have leveled new allegations against a wealthy fundraiser for Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats, claiming he paid back a $74 million fraudulent loan by deceiving a second bank.
Hassan Nemazee was arrested last week on charges that accuse him of using forged documents to get a loan from Citibank. Shortly after the FBI first questioned him, authorities said he hastily paid back the bank.
In a letter to a judge made public Wednesday, prosecutors said they had frozen Nemazee's bank accounts after discovering he paid off the $74 million loan with money from a line of credit from another bank. Nemazee used fake documents to open the line of credit, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also alleged that they learned last week that Nemazee had defrauded a third bank "by obtaining multiple lines of credit on the basis of similar false and fraudulent information." The outstanding loans from the third bank are more than $100 million, they said.
There was no immediate response to a message left with Nemazee's attorney, who had prompted prosecutors to write the letter by complaining to the court that his client couldn't withdraw "a single dollar" to pay for food, medicine and legal bills.
Nemazee, the 59-year-old chairman and chief executive of Manhattan-based Nemazee Capital Corp., served as national finance chairman for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and later raised money for President Barack Obama after her primary defeat. He also was Sen. John Kerry's finance chairman in New York for his 2004 bid for president.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated him to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina, but his nomination was never confirmed.
After spending one night in jail, Nemazee was put under house arrest as part of a $25 million bail package secured by property including a $20 million Park Avenue apartment. He faces up to 30 years in prison plus a fine if convicted.
