A federal judge in California on Thursday sentenced a venture capitalist who donated nearly $ 1 million to the inauguration committee of former President Donald Trump to 12 years in prison for falsifying his records to hide his job as a foreign agent while he worked at a high level on U.S. officials.
Imaad Zuberi was also fined $ 1.75 million and ordered to pay $ 15.7 million in restitution.
The 50-year-old Zuberi agreed in 2019 to deny guilt of tax evasion, filing false registrations of foreign agents and providing nearly $ 1 million in illegal campaign contributions to various presidential election campaigns and other candidates for the elected office, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
He has previously donated to a number of Republican and Democratic politicians, including former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2015, Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., in 2014, then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2015, and former President Barack . Obama’s presidential re-election campaign in 2011.
“The violations were part of a larger assassination attempt to divert foreign money to US elections and to use it to make corrupt processes of US policy,” federal prosecutors said in a court dossier. They added “the court must reject the characterization of Zuberi that illegal foreign interference and by withdrawing money to influence US policy and elections is the way America works.”
Prosecutors say Zuberi has asked foreign nationals and representatives of foreign governments, claiming he can use his influence in Washington to change U.S. foreign policy and open up business opportunities for his clients.
Zuberi went to great lengths to carry out his plan – hiring lobbyists, hiring PR professionals and contributing to the campaign – and gaining access to senior U.S. officials in the process, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors said between five and five years of illegal money was seized from foreign entities for five years. Officials did not disclose the source of the $ 900,000 that Zuberi donated to the Trump Inauguration Committee in December 2016.
Zuberi not only sought help from members of the House of Representatives, but also members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and other powerful politicians, prosecutors said.
In one case, Zuberi paid a former high-ranking U.S. military official of more than $ 150,000 to travel to Bahrain twice, and he used Bahrain officials to personally influence J’s influence in the United States, participating in an advertising campaign. stunt of April 29, 2013 in which Avenue Ventures allegedly acquired a 35 percent stake in Al Areen. The stunt consists of an event in Los Angeles where Person J and an Avenue Ventures representative allegedly attended.
In addition to the other schemes, prosecutors say Zuberi received a $ 1 million payment from accused Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash in March 2015.
“Mr Zuberi has banned and prohibited federal laws that restrict foreign influences on our government from injecting foreign money into our political campaigns. He has enriched himself by deceiving his clients and evading tax payments,” said Tracy Wilkinson. , acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said. “The sentence of today, which also includes the attempt of Mr. “Zuberi’s to obstruct an investigation into his criminal activities is stated, stressing the importance of our ongoing efforts to maintain transparency in US elections and policy-making processes.”
Zuberi’s lawyers declined to comment on Thursday’s sentencing.