A former Democratic candidate for the New York state Assembly is accused of stealing $160,000 in taxpayer money by scamming the state’s new campaign matching-funds programme, according to statements made by federal prosecutors on Friday.
A charge of wire fraud was brought against Dao Yin, who was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Assembly’s 40th District in Queens last year. On Friday, he was arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn under the charge of wire fraud.
According to the federal government, Yin, who is 62 years old, is suspected of submitting fake signatures in order to create an artificially high number of campaign contributions that he received. This was done in order to increase the amount of public matching money that he was eligible to receive.
According to a statement released by Matthew R. Galeotti, who is the head of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, “the defendant is accused of stealing over $160,000 in taxpayer dollars through lies and deceit in order to fund his campaign for elected office.”
According to the lawsuit that was filed against him, the Chinese national who lived in Queens also submitted more than two hundred donation cards to the state Public Campaign Finance Board. The complaint claims that “many” of these cards were false.
A red flag was raised at the CFB as a result of the fraudulent signatures, and the organisation requested several letters from the donors in order to verify that the contributions were legitimate.
However, according to the complaint, Yin reportedly responded with forged letters, so deceiving the finance board in a clear and obvious manner.
The fact that Yin was completely defeated in the primary election, earning only about six percent of the vote, caused even more concerns to be raised.
This 6% was equivalent to approximately 185 votes, which indicates that Yin had a greater number of contributors than voters.
“As alleged, the defendant, a former candidate for public office, submitted forged campaign contribution cards from members of the very community he hoped to represent, to fraudulently obtain thousands of dollars in public matching funds that he was not entitled to receive,” Brooklyn US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. stated.
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“Today’s arrest demonstrates that this Office will protect the integrity of elections and pursue candidates for elected office who violate campaign finance laws,” he added.
It is possible that Yin may be sentenced to up to twenty years in prison if he is found guilty.
Candidates who are running in close races are able to receive $12 in taxpayer cash for every $1 of small donations given by district residents thanks to the substantial campaign matching-funds programme sponsored by the state. This programme has no limits and is available to candidates.
Regarding the ongoing legal dispute, the state Board of Elections chose not to provide any input.
