Indian-American Pleads Not Guilty To Campaign Finance Fraud

Monday, 27 January 2014, 23:56 IST
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New Delhi: Indian-American author Dinesh D'Souza, who had made a documentary critical of President Barack Obama, has pleaded not guilty in a U.S. court to charges of violating federal campaign finance laws.

Manhattan's India-born top federal prosecutor Preet Bharara brought charges against 52-year-old D'Souza of making illegal contributions to a U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Wendy Long in 2012.

Mumbai-native D'Souza was yesterday arraigned in federal court here when he entered the not guilty plea to one count of causing USD 20,000 in illegal campaign contributions.

He faces upto seven years in prison if convicted.

D'Souza was released on a USD 500,000 bond and his travel has been restricted within the U.S.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for March.

During the arraignment hearing, D'Souza's defence lawyer Benjamin Brafman said his client's conduct as alleged in the indictment brought by Bharara cannot be deemed as criminal.

"It's an unusual case," Brafman told U.S. District Judge Richard Berman. "I don't think there's much dispute as to what happened, but why it happened and whether it violated federal election law."
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Source: PTI
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