Democratic fund raiser sentenced to 24 years in fraud

Norman Hsu, a Chinese-American businessman and fundraiser for the Democratic Party, was sentenced Tuesday in New York to 24 years prison for fraud.

Hsu, 58, was convicted on charges of operating an 80 million dollar pyramid fraud, or Ponzi scheme, and violating campaign finance laws.

Hsu's scam was to attract investments to his two companies, Components Ltd and Next Components Ltd, with promises of guaranteed, short-term, high returns. In reality, the returns were monies stolen from new investors.

He became a supporter of Democratic causes, including the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, to boost his standing and ability to attract further investors, prosecutors say.

"Hsu's dishonest use of political campaigns to perpetuate his fraud strikes at the very core of our democracy," Judge Victor Marrero said.

"Hsu betrayed the trust of his victims by stealing their money with false promises of fake returns in order to finance a luxurious lifestyle," said prosecutor Preet Bharara.

"He broke federal campaign finance laws to pump up his public profile and bolster his victims' belief in his phony investment program. Today's sentence underscores our commitment to stop swindlers."

Clinton and Obama last year returned Hsu-linked donations and gave them to charity.