Local news
A former Massachusetts congressional candidate will serve a jail sentence for violating campaign finance laws and other charges, prosecutors announced.
Abhijit “Beej” Das was sentenced last week to 21 months in prison for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act and making false statements. after to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.
Das, who finished seventh within the Democratic primary won by Rep. Lori Trahan within the 2017-2018 election, was found guilty last 12 months of accepting excessive campaign contributions, passing donations, embezzling campaign funds and two counts of constructing false statements.
During the election campaign, Das developed a scheme to inflate his donations by taking out personal loans from friends and shut acquaintances above the legally permitted amount, prosecutors said. He was also accused of using his campaign account to repay outstanding debts for his hotel business and covering up the withdrawals with falsified campaign finance reports.
“The FBI is committed to protecting the integrity of our election system and will not allow corruption like this to go unchecked,” Jodi Cohen, special agent in control of the FBI's Boston Division, said in a press release.
Das was sentenced to serve one 12 months of probation following his prison sentence and to pay a positive of $25,000.
That has also ended individually charged charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, in a case by which authorities say he diverted greater than $5 million in trust funds from his clients' accounts for private expenses, based on Levy's office. He has pleaded not guilty in that case and is free pending trial.
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