Felon in frauds turns himself in

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — A top fundraiser for presidential contender Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton turned himself in yesterday in California, where he had been a fugitive for more than 15 years.

Judge H. James Ellis ordered Norman Hsu handcuffed and jailed on $2 million bail. The judge declined Hsu’s request to immediately reduce the bail by half, instead scheduling a Sept. 5 hearing to consider the request.

Hsu — a benefactor of Democratic causes and candidates — pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he had defrauded investors of $1 million in a bogus investment scam. He was facing up to three years in prison when he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date, Deputy Attorney General Ronald Smetana said outside court.

Hsu also resigned from the board of trustees of the New School and from the board of governors of the New School’s Eugene Lang College. The college received a federal appropriation secured by Mrs. Clinton, New York Democrat, last year, but a spokesman for the school saidHsu was not involved in seeking money for the school.

Hsu”s close association with Mrs. Clinton”s campaign put her on the defensive just as she prepared for an intense post-Labor Day campaign stretch.

“I was surprised like everybody else who knew him,” Mrs. Clinton said yesterday. “I think he’s done the right thing turning himself in, and the process will go forward from here.”

Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign designated Hsu a “HillRaiser” — a title given to top donors — this week returned $23,000 in contributions that Hsu made to her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

Yesterday’s 10-minute hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court was the culmination of a stunningly quick fall from grace for a disgraced California businessman who remade himself into a New York apparel executive and fundraiser.

He also made donations to presidential contenders Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Federal Election Commission records show Hsu donated $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004. He raised money for Mr. Obama’s Senate campaign in 2004 and for Mr. Obama’s political action committee.

After reports surfaced this week of his fugitive status, politicians at all levels scrambled to distance themselves.

Mr. Obama’s campaign said Thursday it would give to charity the $2,000 Hsu contributed to his 2004 Senate campaign and the $5,000 Hsu gave to his political action committee, Hopefund.

Hsu’s $43,700 in donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $2,500 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also will go to charity, both groups announced.

Mr. Richardson indicated he plans to donate to charity $23,000 in contributions that Mr. Hsu made to his gubernatorial re-election campaign in New Mexico.