Fundraiser for Democratic Party Arrested for Fraud

Hassan Nemazee, 59, a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party was arrested August 25 on charges of bank fraud and sent a night in jail before posting bond the following morning. Nemazee was released on twenty five million dollar bond which he posted using Manhattan apartment on Park Avenue and his home in Katonah, New York.

Nemazee is accused of one count of bank fraud for allegedly submitting fraudulent addresses, phone numbers and account information in a loan application to Citigroup Inc.  Citigroup approved the loan for seventy four million dollars based on the information provided by Nemazee. The loan was to be secured by accounts he listed on the application however some of those accounts were non-existent or had been closed for some time. The references that he provided on the application were fraudulent in nature. Citigroup Inc attempted to confirm details about his accounts and the phone numbers provided would come back to him rather than a third party.

United States Attorney Preet Bharara declined to elaborate on the charges but confirmed a hearing has been set for September 24 of this year. Bharara affirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation detained Nemazee on Sunday at Newark International Airport prior to his flight to Rome. Bharara also confirms that Nemazee paid back the seventy four million dollar loan to Citibank Inc the following day.

Nemazee is a major fundraiser for the Democratic Party and had contributed to Hillary Clinton’s campaign for President. He was a national finance chair for her run for Presidency; Clinton is now United States Secretary of State. He also contributed to Barack Obama’s campaign once Clinton stepped down as a candidate. Nemazee was also a supporter to Senator John Kerry in his run for Presidency in 2004. Nemazee was nominated by Bill Clinton during his Presidency to be United States Ambassador to Argentina.

Nemazee would typically donate more than one hundred thousand dollars on an annual basis to Democratic candidates. He has also contributed to Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid and Senator Charles Schumer. Nemazee sits on the board of the Iranian American Political Action Committee.

Nemazees firm, Nemazee Capital was founded in 1987 and invests in health care, oil, nature gas and the media. He is the chairman and Chief Executive of the firm. The firm has over three billion dollars under management. Some of the firms’ acquisitions included Carret Asset Management. Carret Asset Management is a privately held firm and is now Brean Murray Carret & Co a small investment bank.

Marc Mukasey, Attorney for Nemazee and a former Federal Prosecutor at the hearing stated that the bail was draconian and the most onerous bail package he had ever been a part of. Nemazee has not entered a plea. Nemazee faces a thirty year prison sentence and over one million dollars in fines if convicted.