Abake Assongba, a major donor to Obama’s campaign, accused of fraud
US President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign event at the Southern Maine Community College in Portland, Maine. One of Obama’s major campaign donors has been accused of fraud.
Abake Assongba, who along with her husband donated over $50,000 to Obama's re-election campaign, has been accused of impersonating a bank official to defraud a Swiss businessman, according to the Associated Press.
Assongba allegedly stole over $650,000 to help build a multimillion-dollar home in Florida, and owes more than $10,000 in rent on a Brooklyn apartment, the Atlantic Wire reported. She was evicted from the apartment in 2004 in a separate incident, according to New York magazine.
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Abake and her husband Anthony J.W. DeRosa have donated more than $70,000 to Democratic candidates recently, including a contribution to Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, New York magazine reported. Their non-profit organization Abake's Foundation donates school supplies and food in Africa.
Obama's campaign team, which has not yet addressed the Assongba situation directly, told the Washington Post that 1.3 million people have donated over $120 million to his re-election effort, and individual issues of donation fraud will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The campaign's spokesman Ben LaBolt declined to comment on the fraud accusations.
Obama is the only presidential candidate to release his list of "bundlers," people who solicit major contributions from friends and associates to put towards a campaign, according to the AP. Assongba is one of the Obama campaign's 440 volunteer fundraisers, the AP reported.
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This is not the first time Obama's campaign had dealt with scandal as a result of releasing its bundler lists. Last month, Obama returned $200,000 to Carlos and Alberto Cardona, the brothers of a Mexican fugitive wanted on federal drug charges. Obama has also been connected to Chicago fundraiser Tony Rezko, who ran a $10 million bribery scheme, according to the Atlantic Wire.
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