Complaint Alleges Political Consultant Received Fraud Proceeds as Benefit from State Senator
Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Toni Weirauch, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced today the unsealing of a nine-count Complaint charging New York political consultant MELVIN LOWE with fraud and tax violations. The Complaint alleges that LOWE defrauded the New York Democratic Senate Campaign Committee (“DSCC”) and its contributors of $100,000 by causing a vendor to submit a false invoice for printing services to the DSCC. According to the Complaint, LOWE instructed the vendor to send $75,000 of the proceeds to LOWE and $20,000 to a political consultant and to keep $5,000 for himself. [wp_ad_camp_1]
The Complaint further alleges that the $20,000 payment came days after a State Senator promised to pay a benefit to the consultant for assistance the consultant had previously provided to the Senator. In addition to this fraud charge, the Complaint charges LOWE with income tax violations for his failure to report more than $2 million in consulting income. He is also charged with causing his bank to make a false statement to his mortgage lender, and also for defrauding a Yonkers resident of $66,000. LOWE was arrested this morning and will be presented later today before United States Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison in White Plains federal court.
