A former Democratic candidate for New York state Assembly allegedly stole $160,000 in taxpayer cash by defrauding the state’s new campaign matching-funds program, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Dao Yin, who lost his long-shot bid for the Assembly’s 40th District in Queens last year, was slapped with a wire fraud charge and arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Friday.
Yin, 62, is accused of submitting bogus signatures to inflate the number of campaign contributions he received in order to boost the amount of public matching-funds he was entitled to receive, according to the feds.
“Through lies and deceit, the defendant allegedly stole over $160,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund his campaign for elected office,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, in a statement.
The Queens resident and Chinese national submitted over 200 contribution cards to the state Public Campaign Finance Board — “many” of which were fraudulent, the complaint against him alleges.
The forged signatures raised red flags at the CFB, which requested some letters from the donors to ensure the contributions were legit.
But Yin allegedly submitted fake letters in response, evidently duping the finance board, according to the complaint.
When Yin got obliterated in the primary — receiving only around 6% of the vote — it sparked even more alarms.
That 6% translated to roughly only 185 votes, meaning Yin had more contributors than voters.
“As alleged, the defendant, a former candidate for public office, submitted forged campaign contribution cards from members of the very community he hoped to represent, to fraudulently obtain thousands of dollars in public matching funds that he was not entitled to receive,” Brooklyn US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. wrote in a statement.
“Today’s arrest demonstrates that this Office will protect the integrity of elections and pursue candidates for elected office who violate campaign finance laws,” he said.
Yin, who did not return a request for comment Friday, could face up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.
The state’s generous campaign matching-funds program has no limit and allows candidates in tight races to pocket $12 in taxpayer cash for every $1 of small donations made by district residents.
The state Board of Elections didn’t immediately comment.
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