A Boy Named Hsu

Norman Hsu. Sigh. Making my side look bad. But here at Trogvision we struggle for parity (cough), so he's gotta get talked about. Who is he? A convicted fugitive who gives big bucks to Democrats. Yes, it's true there are plenty of money-giving crooks out there. (See the deceased Kenneth Lay, for example.) What makes this case different?

In the wake of such scandals, er, misguided decisions, fundraisers have had to figure out how to deal. It's embarrassing to take money from bad guys. It could make the nonprofit look like it approves of said bad guy's actions. And might keep other donors from giving.

Sometimes the fundraisers feel the need to give the money back. Sometimes the donor wants the fundraiser to give the money back. (See the deceased Kenneth Lay v. Mizzoo.) But sometimes, as here, the fundraiser doesn't want to give the money back but really should. The others to whom Hsu had given money had gotten rid of it. Governor Rendell, who I generally believe does a great job, was the lone holdout. This was a bad move. But today he decided to get rid of his Hsu moo.

Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, having defrauded investors of $1 million after falsely claiming to have contracts to purchase and sell latex gloves. He remained a fugitive for 15 years until last week when he turned himself in to California authorities. Apparently this went unknown until some time last month, when receivers of Hsu's largesse began giving it back or giving it to charity. Last night Hsu, who had skipped town on $2 million bail for a grand theft conviction on Wednesday, was arrested in Grand Junction, Colo. (Grand Junction is a mere two hours from Aspen, which is where Kenny Boy went for a vacation and never came back.)

Sources:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/9636722.html
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1197912,00.html