U.S. Chamber Accused of Tax Fraud, Money Laundering [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
Two national watchdog groups, U.S. Chamber Watch [3] and StopTheChamber.com [4], have filed complaints with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service [5] asking the agency to investigate the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [6] for criminal fraud and money laundering. The groups allege that the Chamber has been illegally funneling donations from a wealthy charitable foundation into its political battles. Chamber Watch says $12 million of an $18 million donation that the wealthy Starr Foundation [7] gave [8] (pdf) gave to the National Chamber Foundation [9], was in the form of loans that have never been repaid. Chamber Watch says the money was diverted to finance political causes, including tort reform [10], to shield companies like AIG [11] from liability lawsuits. The Starr Foundation [7] was founded by Cornelius Vander Starr [12], the insurance entrepreneur who also founded AIG [11]. The Foundation's Chairman of the Board of Directors is Maurice R. Greenberg [13], former President and CEO of AIG. The Foundation's Director (and Treasurer) is Howard I. Smith, AIG's former Chief Financial Officer. StopTheChamber.com says it was contacted by a Chamber whistleblower who described [14] (pdf) how Chamber CEO Tom Donohue [15] is "scamming [business] clients to serve his own interests rather than the interests of the business community." The insider compared Donohue to Jack Abramoff [16] and Bernie Madoff [17]. He also alleged that Donohue does not fear the Federal Elections Commission [18] or Congress, and has a plan set up to attack the U.S. Department of Justice [19] if the agency ever tries to investigate him.