NEW YORK - A hotel executive and Democratic fundraiser pleaded guilty Thursday to witness tampering and conspiracy to evade campaign finance laws.
Chatwal supposedly claimed that his donations to political candidates gave him direct access to high-ranking politicians, and their families. This 2006 photo shows him with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary. (AP file photo)
Sant Singh Chatwal was accused of working with an unidentified informant to use straw donors to make contributions to three unnamed political candidates. He also was accused of trying to persuade a witness to not speak to the FBI.
Mr Chatwal, an Indian-born US citizen, is the founder of Hampshire Hotels Management LLC. The company owns and manages the four-star Dream Hotel Bangkok on Sukhumvit Soi 15, in addition to hotels in New York, Miami, the United Kingdom, Thailand and India.
Despite his financial ties to Thailand, no official charges have so far mentioned any attempt to buy political influence in the country.
Mr Chatwal raised at least US$100,000 (3.25 million baht) for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign against Barack Obama.
An informant caught Mr Chatwal on tape in 2010 explaining that he believed his illegal fundraising bought him access to people in power.
Without the contributions "nobody will even talk to you," Mr Chatwal said. "That's the only way to buy them, get into the system."
Mr Chatwal entered the plea to evading contribution limits and witness tampering in federal court in Brooklyn as part of a plea deal. He faces a maximum of nearly six years in prison at sentencing on July 31 and must forfeit $1 million. He free on $750,000 bond secured by property in Manhattan.
In court papers, the three people who received the donations were described only as candidates for federal office. There's no allegation that they knew about the scheme, the papers add.
In November 2009, he was among the celebrities, major Democratic fundraisers and businessmen invited to Obama's first state dinner.
He also was a guest at then-president Bill Clinton's state dinner for India in 2000 and helped arrange an earthquake-relief visit by the former president to India in 2001.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Brooklyn read Mr Chatwal details of the charges. When asked how he would plead, he responded, "I plead guilty sir."
He faces up to five years, three months in prison at sentencing on July 31. He also must forfeit $1 million as part of a plea deal.
He was freed on $750,000 bond.
His son, Indian hotelier and playboy Vikram Chatwal, was arrested at a Florida airport early this month after trying to board a flight with heroin, cocaine and other drugs, local media reported.
The younger Chatwal, who owns his own Dream Hotels in South Beach Miami and New York and often is photographed with celebrities, was stopped at the Fort Lauderdale Airport Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration agents found what turned out to be prescription pills rolling around loose in a carry-on bag.
His father said his donations bought him access to politicians. Mr Chatwal was a guest at then-president Bill Clinton's state dinner for India in 2000 and helped arrange an earthquake-relief visit by the former president to India in 2001.
Court papers allege that between 2007 and 2011, Mr Chatwal used his employees, business associates and contractors who worked on his hotels to collect contributions from straw donors in Queens, Long Island and elsewhere. He then arranged to pay the donors back, a violation of the election laws.
As part of the scheme, an unnamed business associate submitted a bill to Mr Chatwal for $104,745 in 2011 for purported work done for one of Mr Chatwal's companies. Prosecutors allege that $69,000 of the total actually was reimbursement for money the associate had raised via straw donors.
In a conversation recorded in 2012, Mr Chatwal instructed the associate that if he were asked if Mr Chatwal gave him the money back, he should respond, "Never."
Mr Chatwal directly backed several Democratic candidates with his own money — at least $31,200 since 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Among them were New York Reprs. Joe Crowley and Gary Ackerman, along with California Rep. Howard Berman and Florida Rep. Robert Wexler. He also gave money to Montana Senator Jon Tester, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner.