Pakistani Returns to
Face Charges
Los Angeles: A Pakistani businessman
accused of illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars
to the political campaigns of US Senators Hillary Clinton
(D-NY) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) surrendered to the FBI
on a year-old indictment last Tuesday, then collapsed in
Los Angeles federal court, Los Angeles Times reported.
Looking tired and disoriented, Abdul Rehman Jinnah, 56,
complained of chest pains and began shaking an hour into
a contentious bond hearing before US Magistrate Judge Patrick
J Walsh. The judge interrupted the hearing for nearly 30
minutes while paramedics attended to Jinnah.
After Jinnah’s condition was stabilized and he was
taken to a local hospital for an examination, Walsh set
bond at $300,000. The drama unfolded shortly after Jinnah,
who has a history of heart problems and diabetes, flew back
to the US from Pakistan to answer charges by a grand jury
that he engineered illicit donations to Clinton’s
political action committee and Boxer’s 2004 re-election
campaign.
Officials from both campaigns have said they were unaware
of the alleged wrongdoing and returned the contributions.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Assistant US Atty Dennis Mitchell
urged the judge to deny Jinnah bond, arguing that he was
a “tremendous flight risk” with a long history
of financial misconduct that included five bankruptcy filings
that had been dismissed by the courts.
But Jinnah’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Douglas
Fuchs, said that was “absurd,” noting that his
client had voluntarily surrendered and faced only one to
two years in prison if convicted. Fuchs said his client
went to Pakistan last year to tend to his ill mother and
delayed his return because of his own health problems.
Fuchs said his client did not know the indictment had been
returned against him in May 2006 when he flew to Pakistan
later the same month. It was near the close of Tuesday’s
hearing, during a discussion of his assets and setting bond,
that Jinnah, handcuffed and behind a glass partition, suddenly
fell back in his chair. After paramedics whisked Jinnah
to a hospital, defense attorneys Fuchs, Thomas Holliday
and Robert C Bonner assured the judge that the proceeding
could continue.
The lawyers are with the firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher,
where one of Jinnah’s sons also is an attorney. Jinnah
and his family personally contributed $122,000 to Democratic
candidates and organizations that year and held events for
Clinton and Boxer at his home.
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