AdamT
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This is an interesting story with potential reverberations reaching into the 2012 elections....
By way of Background, Sheldon Adelson is head of Las Vegas Sands, a company that very nearly went bankrupt during the Bush years as a result of the Great Recession. In contrast, Mr. Adelson has made tens of billions of dollars during the Obama years, with his company's stock soaring more than 8000% from it's Bush-years lows. Nevertheless, Mr. Adelson has emerged as one of, if not THE biggest Republican donors. He essentially bankrolled Gingrich's entire campaign, he has contributed millions to Romney, and he has said that he may contribute $100 million or more to Republicans in this election cycle.
As it happens, Mr. Adelson's fortunes turned around as a result of a huge bet he made on gambling in the Chinese island of Macau. Investigators are now looking into whether that fortune was obtained as a result of bribing Macau officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act....
Is Mr. Adelson bribing Republican politicians in hopes of avoiding prosecution for bribing Chinese officials? Even if the two are unrelated, will Republicans refuse his millions, tainted as they may be with corruption and ties to the Chinese mob?
By way of Background, Sheldon Adelson is head of Las Vegas Sands, a company that very nearly went bankrupt during the Bush years as a result of the Great Recession. In contrast, Mr. Adelson has made tens of billions of dollars during the Obama years, with his company's stock soaring more than 8000% from it's Bush-years lows. Nevertheless, Mr. Adelson has emerged as one of, if not THE biggest Republican donors. He essentially bankrolled Gingrich's entire campaign, he has contributed millions to Romney, and he has said that he may contribute $100 million or more to Republicans in this election cycle.
As it happens, Mr. Adelson's fortunes turned around as a result of a huge bet he made on gambling in the Chinese island of Macau. Investigators are now looking into whether that fortune was obtained as a result of bribing Macau officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act....
Internal email and company documents, disclosed here for the first time, show that Adelson instructed a top executive to pay about $700,000 in legal fees to Leonel Alves, a Macau legislator whose firm was serving as an outside counsel to Las Vegas Sands.
The company's general counsel and an outside law firm warned that the arrangement could violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is unknown whether Adelson was aware of these warnings. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bars American companies from paying foreign officials to "affect or influence any act or decision" for business gain.
Federal investigators are looking at whether the payments violate the statute because of Alves' government and political roles in Macau, people familiar with the inquiry said. Investigators were also said to be separately examining whether the company made any other payments to officials. An email by Alves to a senior company official, disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, quotes him as saying "someone high ranking in Beijing" [2] had offered to resolve two vexing issues — a lawsuit by a Taiwanese businessman and Las Vegas Sands' request for permission to sell luxury apartments in Macau. Another email from Alves said the problems could be solved for a payment of $300 million [3]. There is no evidence the offer was accepted. Both issues remain unresolved.
Inside the Investigation of Leading Republican Money Man Sheldon Adelson - ProPublica
Is Mr. Adelson bribing Republican politicians in hopes of avoiding prosecution for bribing Chinese officials? Even if the two are unrelated, will Republicans refuse his millions, tainted as they may be with corruption and ties to the Chinese mob?
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