A Crook Named Hsu?
This is huge. If the report in the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription only) is accurate there is reason to believe that Norman Hsu may have gotten all that money of his by less-than-legal means. And the really bad news for the Democrats is that there is a lot of money unaccounted for. Ed Morrisey has a section of the article quoted:
New documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal may help point to an answer: A company controlled by Mr. Hsu recently received $40 million from a Madison Avenue investment fund run by Joel Rosenman, who was one of the creators of the Woodstock rock festival in 1969. That money, Mr. Rosenman told investors this week, is missing.
Mr. Hsu told Mr. Rosenman the money would be used to manufacture apparel in China for Gucci, Prada and other private labels, yielding a 40% profit on each deal, according to a business plan obtained by the Journal. Now the investment fund, Source Financing Investors, says Mr. Hsu's company owes it the $40 million, which represents 37 separate deals with Mr. Hsu's company. When Source Financing recently attempted to cash checks from the company, Components Ltd., the investors say they were told the account held insufficient funds.
Source Financing's arrangement with Mr. Hsu's company, according to court documents and investor accounts, echoes an older matter that came to light in recent weeks. In 1991, California officials charged Mr. Hsu with grand theft for failing to repay investors for money he raised to import latex gloves from China.
That is a lot of money to go missing. It certainly calls into question the business judgment of Mr. Rosenman. (If I had money invested in that firm, I'd be screaming for some answers right now.) But more importantly, where did all that lovely cash disappear to? Ed asks some really good questions and points out that there had to be an initial stake of money from somewhere to set up what looks a lot like a long-term scam. Where that money came from could spell even more a disaster for the Democrats. Any Democrat who is hanging on to any money connected in any way to Norman Hsu had better think quickly about getting rid of it.
Other Links to this Post
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Flopping Aces — Wednesday, 12 September , 2007 @ 11:44 am
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Blue Crab Boulevard » Hsu’s Next — Wednesday, 12 September , 2007 @ 7:39 pm
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Wednesday, 12 September , 2007 @ 7:23 am
If the New York State Republican Party wasn’t such a hapless bunch of morons they could be having a field day with this story, since Hsu’s money found its way in the so many pockets here in the Empire State.