Hsu's Money Ties: Coincidence or Conspiracy?

DALY CITY, Calif., Aug. 31, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- We're used to seeing big money campaign contributions from the very wealthy, in communities like Pacific Heights, Hillsborough and Piedmont.

Over the course of the investigation into Norman Hsu's dealings, reporters have uncovered a Daly City mail carrier and his family who are far from what you would expect of big money contributors.

The Wall Street Journal broke the story of big money donations coming from a tiny lime-green bungalow, under the flight path of San Francisco International Airport.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars for Democratic politicians including Hillary Clinton came from a house owned by a Bay Area mailman.

Republicans are calling for an investigation.

The people coming out of William Paw's house wouldn't speak with us, but we've learned through contribution records that mail carrier William Paw, his wife and four grown children are extraordinarily generous contributors to Democratic politicians.

Neighbors say they've never noticed anything out of the ordinary.

In the past two years, they've spent $200,000 on the Democratic Party.

The spending is not just limited to the Bay Area. High profile Democratic incumbents all over the country received money.

The list includes Hillary Clinton and Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who each received $23,000.

$7,000 went to John Rockefeller, and Patrick Kennedy received $1,000.

Another Rhode Island lawmaker got $2,500, and Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas received $5,000.

Congressman Mike Honda got $3,000 and $27,000 more went to a variety of Democratic committees.

The Wall Street Journal reported William Paw's salary is $48,000 a year. His wife is a home maker.

His daughter Marina listed her job as an account manager at Actuate Corporation.

In just the first 8 months of this year, the family has given more than $90,000.

Coincidently, the contributions are remarkably close to the contributions made by Norman Hsu.

Marina Paw and Winkle Paw donated $5,000 to San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's campaign, on the same day Norman Hsu did.

All three split their donations into identical amounts.

This is what set Republicans to call for an investigation, and experts tell us there is enough to suspect that Hsu is behind the money contributed by the Paw family.

"Red flags are going off everywhere for this one," said Steve Lucas, President of the California Political Attorney's Association.

Lucas is a former chair of the bipartisan commission on California's Political Reform Act. He says investigators will start by interviewing Norman Hsu and the Paws, and then go after their bank records.

"And if you start to see money coming into these accounts, right before these checks were written, then you know you're onto something," said Lucas.

Lucas says politicians generally give back the money or donate it to charity. Unless things get tied to a larger scandal, there's usually not much downside for the politician.

For the person caught making an illegal contribution through a third party, the fines have run as high as $800,000 on the federal side, and the state just recently settled a case for $90,000.

To put the Paws' contributions in perspective, for this year alone, the Paws of Daly City have given more than the Gettys of Pacific Heights.

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