Illegal Campaign Contributions To Rep. Swalwell: Developer Guilty

OAKLAND, CA — An East Bay real estate developer has been found guilty by a federal jury of funneling tens of thousands of dollars through straw donors into two consecutive congressional campaigns for Rep. Eric Swalwell.

The verdict against Fremont-based James Tong came down Oct. 8 after an eight-day trial before the Hon. Jon S. Tigar, United States District Judge. Tong, 74, was found guilty of two counts of making contributions to a federal campaign in the name of other individuals.

In 2012 and 2013, Tong used two primary straw donors as recruiters for his scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Tong gave thousands of dollars in cash to his chosen middlemen and instructed them to recruit straw donors to write checks to the candidate who in 2012 was running for office in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tong got the middlemen to distribute cash in the community to be donated to the initial and reelection campaigns of the candidate, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District. The network of straw donors included dozens of conduits who agreed to write checks in exchange for a commensurate amount of cash sourced from Tong.

"Tong provided envelopes of cash to the two intermediaries and directed them to reimburse individuals for their contributions. Tong also directed an intermediary to conceal the scheme by instructing the conduits not to deposit the cash and later directed the intermediary to withhold information from the FBI after he was interviewed," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Swalwell and members his campaign were unaware of the Tong’s illegal contribution scheme.

Judge Tigar scheduled Tong’s sentencing for Dec. 13. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of two years in prison and 1000 percent of the amount involved in the violation for each count.