Christopher J. Ward

Last updated

Christopher J. Ward is a former treasurer of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and several other Republican campaigns. [1] He was accused of embezzling $724,000 from the NRCC since his appointment in 2003, according to statements from the organization. The theft was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. [1] [2] [3] Ward had also served as treasurer for 83 Republican committees. [4] [5] [6]

On June 6, 2008, the Department of Justice, in filing a civil forfeiture proceeding against Ward's house, alleged that Ward "made over $500,000 in unauthorized withdrawals" and that he used the money to make his mortgage payments and for home renovation on his home in Bethesda, Maryland. [7]

On December 2, 2010, a federal judge sentenced Ward to 37 months in prison for stealing more than $844,000 from the NRCC and other political fundraising committees for whom he worked as treasurer. [8]

Related Research Articles

Rick Renzi American politician

Richard George Renzi is a former American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing Arizona's 1st congressional district from 2003 until in 2009. In 2013, he was convicted on federal criminal charges against him for his involvement in a land-swap deal.

Tom Davis (Virginia politician)

Thomas Milburn Davis III is an American lobbyist and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who represented Virginia's 11th congressional district in Northern Virginia. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner in the 2008 election, but decided against it. He announced on January 30, 2008, that he would not seek reelection to an eighth term. Davis resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.

Bob Ney American politician and criminal

Robert William Ney is an American politician from Ohio. In 2007, he was convicted on charges of corruption and sentenced to 30 months in jail. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignation took place after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. Before he pleaded guilty, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.

Thomas M. Reynolds

Thomas M. Reynolds is an American politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 27th and 26th Congressional districts in the United States House of Representatives. Reynolds was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the official Republican House campaign organization, for the 2006 election cycle. He retired amid scandal at the end of the 110th Congress. Chris Lee was elected to succeed him.

Jack Abramoff American Republican lobbyist

Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and to 21 people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.

Catalina Vasquez Villalpando

Catalina "Cathi" Vásquez Villalpando is the 39th Treasurer of the United States who served from December 11, 1989, to January 20, 1993 under President George H. W. Bush and is the only U.S. Treasurer ever to be sent to prison. She had held minor positions under President Ronald Reagan and had chaired the Republican National Hispanic Assembly. In 1994, Villalpando was found guilty of obstruction of justice and tax evasion.

U.S. Family Network, Inc. (USFN) was founded in 1996 by Ed Buckham, who also served as the organization's consultant. USFN was a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) corporation founded in Virginia, with its principal offices located in the District of Columbia in the same building as Buckham's consulting firm Alexander Strategy Group and Tom DeLay's political action committee Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC). USFN received $500,000 from the NRCC and $1 million from lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Russian clients.

John L. Sampson is an American former politician and convicted felon. A Democrat, Sampson represented District 19 in the New York State Senate from 1997 to 2015. He is of Guyanese heritage. Sampson became Senate Democratic Leader in June 2009 and served as Senate Minority Leader from January 2011 to December 2012. Sampson forfeited his Senate seat when he was convicted of federal felony charges on July 24, 2015. On January 18, 2017, he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Sheila Dixon American mayor

Sheila Ann Dixon is an American politician who served as the forty-eighth mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When the former mayor, Martin O'Malley, was sworn in as governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon, the president of the Baltimore City Council, served out the remaining year of his term. In November 2007, she was elected mayor. She was the first African-American woman to serve as president of the City Council, Baltimore's first female mayor, and Baltimore's third black mayor.

Duncan D. Hunter American politician

Duncan Duane Hunter is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative for California's 50th congressional district from 2013 to 2020. He is a member of the Republican Party, who was first elected to the House in 2008. This district, numbered as the 52nd from 2009 to 2013, encompasses much of northern and inland San Diego County and a sliver of Riverside County, including the cities of El Cajon, Escondido, San Marcos, Santee and Temecula. He served in the U.S. Marines from 2001 through 2005 and succeeded his father, Republican Duncan Lee Hunter, a member of Congress from 1981 to 2009.

Harry Thomas Jr., is a Democratic politician in Washington, D.C. In 2006 he was elected to represent Ward 5 on the Council of the District of Columbia and served until his resignation in 2012, several hours after federal prosecutors filed charges of embezzlement and filing false tax returns against him.

John Ensign scandal

The John Ensign scandal related to revelations in 2009 of an extramarital affair between United States Senator John Ensign from Nevada and campaign aide Cynthia Hampton from 2007 to 2008 and actions taken by Ensign to keep the affair secret. He was investigated for potential violations of federal rules about conflict of interest after he arranged for Doug Hampton, Cynthia's husband and formerly a top staffer in his Washington, D.C. office, to gain a private lobbying job and apparently used his federal position to benefit Hampton's clients.

Rita A. Crundwell was the Comptroller and Treasurer of Dixon, Illinois from 1983 to 2012, and the admitted operator of what is believed to be the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. She was fired in April 2012 after the discovery that she had embezzled $53.7 million from the city of Dixon for over twenty-two years to support her championship American Quarter Horse breeding operation. Crundwell pleaded guilty to her crimes and was sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison.

Corruption in Illinois has been a problem from the earliest history of the state. Electoral fraud in Illinois pre-dates the territory's admission to the Union in 1818, Illinois was the third most corrupt state in the country, after New York and California, judging by federal public corruption convictions between 1976 and 2012.

Rick Gates (political consultant)

Richard William Gates III is an American former political consultant and lobbyist who pleaded guilty to conspiracy against the United States and making false statements in the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. He is a longtime business associate of Paul Manafort and served as deputy to Manafort when the latter was campaign manager of the Donald Trump presidential campaign in 2016, and after under Kellyanne Conway.

Michael Avenatti American convicted felon and former attorney

Michael John Avenatti is an American attorney, best known for his representation of adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Donald Trump, and for his felony extortion conviction involving sports apparel company Nike. His firm has represented various celebrity defendants and has filed suits against Fortune 500 companies. He has appeared extensively on broadcast television as well as in print as a legal and political commentator, and as a representative for prominent clients. He was also a race car driver, having participated in races in the United States and Europe.

References

  1. 1 2 Wayne, Leslie (June 13, 2008). "G.O.P. Says Ex-Treasurer Stole Funds". New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2008.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. ↑ NRCC "Chairman Cole Releases Statement and Update on Apparent Accounting Irregularities", NRCC Statement Archived March 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Cole: Ward "deceived And Betrayed" The NRCC "for A Number Of Years"", CBS News, March 30, 2008
  4. ↑ "NRCC Says Ex-Treasurer Diverted Up to $1 Million", Washington Post, April 13, 2008
  5. ↑ Bresnahan, John. "NRCC settles embezzlement case". Politico. June 11, 2010.
  6. ↑ N. Lewis, "Sham Audits May Have Hid Theft by G.O.P. Committee Treasurer, Lawyer Says", New York Times, March 14, 2008
  7. ↑ "Justice Dept: Ward took at least $500K in GOP campaign funds". Yahoo! News . June 6, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2008.CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  8. ↑ Hsu, Spencer, S., "NRCC official sentenced in theft", Washington Post, December 2, 2010
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.