Babulal ‘Bob’ Bera illegally contributed $265,000 to son’s campaigns.
AB Wire
U.S. Rep. from California Ami Bera’s (D-Elk Grove) father, Babulal ‘Bob’ Bera admitted in court Tuesday that he violated campaign finance laws after he was charged with making excessive contributions to his son’s Sacramento County campaign and often did so in the name of other people, according to federal court documents.
Babulal “Bob” Bera appeared in federal court and pled guilty to illegally soliciting and reimbursing donations for his son’s campaign, reported KCRA.
“I am incredibly saddened and disappointed in learning what my dad did,” Ami Bera said. “While I deeply love my father, it’s clear he has made a grave mistake that will have real consequences for him. Neither I, no anyone involved with my campaign, was aware of my father’s activities until we learned about them from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Bob Bera and his wife made the maximum allowable contributions to their son’s campaign and recruited relatives, friends and acquaintances to do the same, documents said.
After the friends and relatives made their donations, Bob Bera would then reimburse them for the contributions they made to Ami Bera’s campaign, investigators said.
The Los Angeles Times reported Babulal ‘Bob’ Bera is 83 years old, and a retired engineer.
The contributions were made in the 2009 and 2011 election cycles. In 2009, the elder Bera reimbursed people for more than $225,000 in donations. During the 2011 elections, Bera’s parents donated more than $40,000, court documents show, reported KCRA.
Prosecutors said there were more than 130 instances of improper campaign contributions reported from approximately 90 people. Bera’s father repaid at least portions of those donations, and investigators said that it’s possible even more money was donated illegally to the congressman’s early campaigns, reported the Times.
“As soon as I learned the amount of the improper donations, I immediately took steps to return the full dollar amount to the U.S. Treasury and the taxpayers,” Ami Bera said.
Ami Bera, an incumbent Democrat, is currently running for re-election in Sacramento County against the Republican candidate, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones.
The Los Angeles Times reported Ami Bera has cooperated with the investigation.
“Congressman Bera and his campaign staff have been fully cooperative in this investigation,” acting U.S. Atty. Phillip A. Talbert said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “To date, there is no indication from what we’ve learned in the investigation that either the congressman or his campaign staff knew of, or participated in, the reimbursements of contributions.”
Prosecutors said that the investigation began with an anonymous tip to the FBI in the fall of 2014 and that the donations were made and later repaid by people in various parts of the country. Babual Bera was interviewed by agents last October about the campaign contributions. He was arraigned shortly before appearing in U.S. District Court Judge Troy L. Nunley’s courtroom and was escorted away without answering questions from reporters.
A campaign spokesman said Bera wrote a check from his political account to the U.S. Treasury on Tuesday to cover the entire amount identified by prosecutors.
The two-term Democrat faces a tough reelection battle. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a Republican, entered the race last fall. Bera’s 2014 challenger, former Rep. Doug Ose, watched the father’s guilty plea from the courtroom audience Tuesday.
Bera also finds himself in a tough spot with some traditional Democratic supporters this year, as labor unions have sharply criticized him for supporting President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, reported the Times.
The congressman’s parents emigrated from India in the 1950s and live in La Palma. His father, who leaned on a cane in court, asked for the help of an interpreter during Tuesday’s proceedings. He was allowed to return home while awaiting sentencing but agreed to surrender his passport.
When asked by the judge whether he was guilty of helping illegally funnel cash to his son’s campaign, Babual Bera said through the interpreter, “I have, in fact, done the crime.”
‘Bob’ Bera could face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both for one count.