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.