miami.com
Computer executive extradited from Philippines to face campaign finance charges
BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
llebowitz@herald.com
A notorious Miami computer company executive who became an influential Filipino legislator after fleeing the United States was extradited Thursday to face 4-year-old charges that he made illegal campaign contributions to former President Clinton and the Democratic Party.
''I'll take my chances. I'm hoping for the best,'' Mark Jimenez told reporters in Manila before two U.S. marshals escorted him aboard a Continental Airways flight. ``I'm going to the USA to solve my problems. . . I have no remorse.''
Jimenez, 55, is expected to land Friday in Miami. It is unclear at this point if he will make a first appearance before a federal magistrate on Friday afternoon, during a special weekend session, or when courts reopen on Monday.
Jimenez fled the U.S. in 1998, shortly before a U.S. Justice Department campaign-finance task force accused the Filipino native -- born Mario Batacan Crespo -- of orchestrating an elaborate scheme to avoid U.S. election laws that prohibit hard-money contributions from foreign nationals.
The indictment accused Jimenez of funneling hundreds of thousands of illegal dollars into the re-election campaign coffers of President Clinton and Democratic Sens. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey through 23 employee straw donors.
An additional Miami federal indictment charged him with tax evasion, mail fraud, conspiracy and making false statements.
At least seven employees of Future Tech, the computer parts export firm established by Jimenez, ''gave'' $1,000 each to Clinton at a Miami fundraiser hosted by Jimenez later received $1,000 bonus checks in return.
The company pleaded guilty to having falsely claimed the donation reimbursements as deductible payroll expenses on its corporate income tax return and falsely reporting a $100,000 donation to the Democratic National Committee as a charitable-contribution deduction. The company agreed to pay a $1 million fine, plus back taxes and penalties.
Jimenez also left behind millions of dollars in unpaid debts. In 1999, lawyers accused Jimenez of diverting more than $17 million from his business, driving the company into bankruptcy.
Jimenez's fortune helped him gain access to the Clinton White House; he golfed with the president, socialized with the First Lady and even attended one of the infamous White House coffee klatches.
During the meeting, he lobbied the administration on behalf of Paraguay, where his firm had major business interests. A month after the coffee, Clinton allowed the country to continue receiving U.S. aid despite restrictions on other Latin American governments that failed to control cocaine smuggling. Shortly after fleeing the U.S., Jimenez befriended Filipino President Joseph Estrada. He quickly became a trusted adviser and helped the president broker several large business deals before the relationship soured in late 1998.
The next year, the U.S. requested Jimenez's extradition.
Estrada was ousted in 2001 over alleged corruption and misrule. The same year, Jimenez won election to the Philippines' House of Representatives.
Jimenez did not leave Manila quietly. Days before his departure, he filed a lawsuit accusing the Filipino justice minister and two others of extorting $2 million from him so he wouldn't have to testify against Estrada. |
