SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Democratic candidates will go before California’s political watchdog agency Friday seeking a reprieve from some of the state’s campaign finance laws as they struggle to restore hundreds of thousands of dollars that may have been lost in an embezzlement scheme by their former campaign treasurer.
The Fair Political Practices Commission will hear from candidates and campaign officials during a hearing in Sacramento to consider options in the wake of the scandal involving longtime Democratic treasurer Kinde Durkee.
Federal prosecutors charged Durkee earlier this month with mail fraud and said she siphoned $700,000 from the campaign account of state Assemblyman Jose Solorio to pay her credit cards, a mortgage, business bills and her mother’s care at an assisted-living facility. She then shifted money from other candidates’ accounts to cover up the wrongdoing, prosecutors allege.
Durkee controlled as many as 400 accounts, including some for nonprofits. A criminal complaint says she admitted
Read More from the Article Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110930/ap_on_go_ot/us_campaign_treasurer_charged
