Democrats to return funds from Indonesian couple

Democrats to return funds from Indonesian couple

WASHINGTON (Reuter): The Democratic National Committee (DNC)
said on Friday it would return US$450,000 in contributions from
an Indonesian couple after deeming the donations "inappropriate."

The DNC received the money in 1995 and 1996 from Arief and
Soraya Wiriadinata who were, at the time, permanent residents of
the United States, spokeswoman Amy Weiss Tobe said in a written
statement.

She said that when questions were raised about the legality of
the donation, the DNC re-checked and confirmed the contributions
were legal.

However, during that process, the DNC learned that the
Wiriadinatas had not filed their U.S. income tax return for 1995,
but were planning immediately to file a late return and pay all
applicable interest and penalties.

"We were also assured that they were planning shortly to
return to the United States ... expressly indicating an intent to
maintain permanent residency status," the statement said.

The DNC had attempted to contact the Wiriadinatas to confirm
the filing of the tax return and their plans to return, but had
been unable to reach them.

Tobe said that given the DNC's inability to make contact with
the Wiriadinatas for confirmation, the DNC would proceed on the
assumption that the tax return had not been filed.

"This failure in our view is fundamentally inconsistent with
the obligations of permanent residency as it is with U.S.
citizenship ... therefore, the DNC believes it is inappropriate
to retain their contributions," she said.

Checks for the full amount had been prepared and the DNC would
try to find an address for the couple, Tobe added. Failing that,
the committee would attempt to return the money to the U.S. bank
on which the funds were drawn.

If the bank, which the spokeswoman did not name, was unwilling
or unable to accept the money, the DNC planned to turn the funds
over to the U.S. Treasury.

Earlier this week, the DNC returned $253,000 in legal
donations to a Thai family.

Former DNC fundraiser John Huang, who raised money among Asian
Americans and whose activities are the focus of a continuing
controversy over political finances, may have solicited some of
the contributions from the Thai family, Tobe said. It was not
immediately known whether Huang also solicited donations from the
Wiriadinatas.

The DNC has now refunded almost $1.5 million in questionable
contributions because of the furor over possibly illegal
donations from foreigners.

The controversy has led to investigations by the Justice
Department and plans for congressional hearings that may begin in
January.

The Washington Post reported yesterday that top Justice
Department officials had decided that FBI agents should be sent
to interview contributors to the DNC.

Quoting unidentified officials, the newspaper said the
department was particularly interested in allegations that donors
illegally made contributions using other people's money.

Although Attorney General Janet Reno would have to make the
final decision on whether to send out FBI agents, the Post said
senior department officials had concluded that some of the
allegations needed to be investigated more fully.