PrintApril 14, 2008
Norman Hsu Who?
If and when the time comes to perform the autopsy on Hillary Clinton's campaign, some will trace the start of its demise back to the Norman Hsu episode. Others will ask, "What's a Norman shoe?"
Eight months ago, on August 28, 2007, Brody Mullins of the Wall Street Journal broke the Yuan Yuen (AKA "Norman") Hsu story in his article about how a Chinese family named Paw, leading a humble life-style in San Francisco, had contributed considerable monies ($284,799) to Democrat politicians. And so began the end of Norman Hsu's grand Ponzi scheme - if that's what is was.
On 13 or 14 September, according to the FBI complaint that led to his arrest, Hsu surrendered to the FBI and asked to "speak to them about his current criminal activity without his lawyers present." What? No lawyer? Since then, with the exception of a brief court appearance or two, Hsu has disappeared down the Federal rabbit hole. (Might he be in witness protection?)
Last week, the History Channel aired episode 15 entitled "Deadly Triangle" in its new Gangland series. It featured the saga of former San Francisco Wo Hop To triad enforcer Kwok Cheung (AKA Raymond "Shrimp Boy") Chow. Chow and his crime boss, Peter Chong, were prominently mentioned, along with their mug shots, in a December 1992 Senate report entitled "The New International Criminal And Asian Organized Crime" released by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the U.S. Senate. In 1992, Chow was imprisoned for racketeering, underage prostitution (he was a pimp) and international heroin trade when, in 2003, he negotiated an early release by testifying against Chong who was extradited from Hong Kong. Chow came out of jail - Chong went in.
Today, Chow walks the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown as a local celebrity living, he claims, a crime-free life. The History Channel implies what some suspect - that Chow was implicated in the February 27, 2006 murder of Chinatown community leader Allen Leung, who had asked for FBI protection. What the History Channel episode doesn't mention is that Leung was openly pro-Republic of China (Taiwan), and that there is a struggle underway in major U.S. Chinatowns between supporters of Taiwan versus those aligned with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). The Epoch Times reporter Li Tu (a pseudonym) reported in a March 8, 2006 article that,
"The murder of Mr. Leung, Chairman of Chee Kung Tong, the historic Chinese fraternal organization, shocked the San Francisco Chinese community. The opinion among local overseas Chinese associations and Chinese people is that the murder was probably politically motivated.
Most local Chinese associations have come to know that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has started a large-scale consolidation of the CCP's interests in San Francisco through bribery and infiltration of the overseas Chinese organizations. As a result, some Chinese organizations have been bought out by the CCP, which has provided investment opportunities in Mainland China.
Leung opposed the CCP his entire life. He was blacklisted by the CCP and had never traveled to mainland China. Some in the Chinese community say that Leung had hoped to rid the San Francisco Chinese overseas association of the influence of the CCP and its representative Rose Pak and that he was in the process of organizing such a Chinese association."
The History Channel also fails to mention that, exactly 17 years before the Hsu story broke, when Foster City, CA police stopped a vehicle with Chow, two of his associates, and Hsu, Hsu announced to the police that Chow was "kidnapping" him. While in custody, Hsu and Chow were over heard arguing over an amount of money ranging from $300,000 to $1,000,000. Incomplete History Channel, it seems.
Less than two years later Hsu failed to appear for sentencing on a fraud conviction and fled to his native Hong Kong, only to resurface back in the U.S. 15 years later as a major bundler for Hillary Clinton's fund-raising efforts.
Hong Kong is the headquarters of the estimated 20,000 international membership of Wo Hop To. As Hong Kong prepared to revert to Chinese sovereignty and as part of his United Front strategy for the Chinese Community Party (CCP), Deng Xiaoping defined a patriot as anyone who contributes to the prosperity and stability of the PRC. That became the official CCP-line for Hong Kong. In 1993, Tao Siju, Chief of China's Public Security Bureau, said,
"As for organizations like the triads in Hong Kong, as long as these people are patriotic, as long as they are concerned with Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, we should unite with them."
So, not only would the Hong Kong triads be allowed to continue operating, they would become a contributing arm of the CCP. (Why did the PRC agree to the extradition of Peter Chong knowing he was headed to prison in the U.S.? Was that Chong's contribution to the prosperity and stability of the CCP - swapping out for Chow?)
The list of benefactors from Hsu's fund-raising slash Ponzi scheme turned out to be a Who's Who among Democrat luminaries. The top three names suggest that Hsu was betting on a rollout of influence coming from a Clinton victory next November. As was widely reported, she received $850,000 in donations. As was not widely reported, nor recently noted when he became Client #9, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer received $72,600. He was the third highest recipient of Hsu money.
The second highest might have been the man that a Governor Spitzer would have appointed to complete a President Hillary Clinton's unexpired Senate term - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, $86,600. And, oh, Fiona Ma, the California Assemblywomen who arranged for Raymond Chow to receive a "Certificate of Honor" from the City of San Francisco, also received Hsu & Associates money, $27,600 ($9,600 from Norm himself). Pure coincidence, surely. (When Senator Feinstein retires from the Senate might Ms. Ma run for her seat?)
Radio personality Rush Limbaugh has coined the term "Drive-By Media" to refer to those in the MSM who shoot up a story and then leave others to clean up the mess, or not.
First the WSJ broke the Norman Hsu story. Then, last October the LATimes broke the story of the vanishing NYC Chinatown donors (read a possible non-MSM explanation of what that was all about here). Neither story was completed. The "Drive-By's" just shot them up and drove on down the road.
Meanwhile, where's Hsu and what's his story?
