SEC charges major GOP donors with fraud
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Sam and Charles Wyly, billionaire Texas brothers who gained prominence spending millions of dollars on conservative political causes, committed fraud by using secret overseas accounts to generate more than $550 million in profit through illegal stock trades, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged yesterday.
The Wylys, who have been generous contributors to the Republican Party and GOP candidates, have spent the past several years facing questions, including from a Senate investigative committee, about whether they hid millions of dollars in tax shelters abroad.
Through their lawyer, the Wylys denied all charges.
According to the SEC, the brothers, who live in Dallas, created an elaborate and clandestine network of accounts and companies in the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands. The brothers then used these accounts and companies to trade more than $750 million of stock in four public companies on whose boards they served, not filing the disclosures required for corporate insiders.
In one case, the SEC alleges that the Wylys traded based on insider information they learned as board members, netting a profit of $32 million.
The agency is seeking unspecified financial penalties and a variety of other sanctions, including barring the Wylys from serving as directors or top executives of public companies.
William Brewer, a lawyer representing the Wylys, said they intend to clear their name.
"After six years of investigations, the SEC has chosen to make claims against the Wyly brothers - claims that, in our view, are without merit," Brewer said in a statement.
Charles Wyly, 76, and Sam Wyly, 75, have led a largely reclusive life, with their public persona defined by their political activities. Charles Wyly and his wife, Dee, have given more than $1.5 million to Republican candidates, party committees and conservative political action committees over the past 20 years, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Sam Wyly and his wife, Cheryl, gave more than $970,000 over the same period, the analysis shows.
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No mention of George Soros and how he spends his fortune to fund Democrats and Socialists through PAC's and sleazy organizations? How about Charlie Rangel? What about promises of a job to a candidate so that he would drop out of race by the Obama Administration? What about conversations between Blago and Obama and who know what? When?
What is the difference? The laws are so stacked for Democrats and against everyone else........
Unions have gotten away with sleazy funding of politicians for decades.
Thank God for the Supreme Court decision on corporations. It is about time that we have some balance!
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From the original article......."they have given more than $1.5 million to more than 200 Republican candidates, party committees and conservative political action committees over the past 20 years"
anybody actually care to do the math - small potatoes
The SEC has spent years and massive tax dollars to dig up nothing but a pittance on them - they have BILLIONS and have holding companies for holding companies and lawyers and traders and massive teams of MBA's ....they will get a small fine and some MBA's or Lawyers working for them will get sanctioned
Nothing more than smear politics from the left wing lame street media....do they teach that at journalism school ?
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It seems to me that the article was citing alleged fraud on the part of the Wyly's, not the GOP or the conservative candidates who received donations from them. Get a grip.
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Interesting that the Monitor finds a prominent place for this article but manages to bury the article on Rep. Charles Rangel's 13 Ethics Violations.
I don't think someone who steals from other American tax-payers should continue on as congressman, do you?
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Since Charley Rangle's ethics or lack there of, lets dig up something on some conservatives.
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Why is it when you conservatives don't like the story you totally change the subject ?
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I don't see a problem. Let's give them another 10 years of taxcuts. It's the American way.
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Abe, there's no point in cutting taxes for them anyway, since they've figured out how to avoid them altogether. Tax cheats cost us infinitely more than a whole country of welfare cheats could ever dream about. Somehow Exxon figured out how to avoid paying any Federal tax in 2009, though they posted a $45 BILLION profit.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/04/06/exxon-tax/
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