OH-01: Letter confirms FBI probe of ex-Chabot aide Jamie Schwartz
The campaign of U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, released correspondence from the Justice Department that confirmed for the first time that Chabot’s former chief political aide, Jamie Schwartz, is under investigation for fraud.
The Chabot campaign released the letter to rebut a recent television and digital ad by his Democratic opponent in the November election, Kate Schroder, that portrays Chabot as beset by scandal. The Chabot campaign has demanded that Schroder’s campaign retract and remove the ad and floated the idea of taking legal action.
The July 21 Justice Department letter to the Chabot campaign’s attorneys in Washington, D.C., Jones Day, discusses a 2011 Jeep Wrangler seized by the FBI in its investigation of Schwartz.
“An investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation has determined that Steve Chabot for Congress is a victim of the violation of law which resulted in the seizure and forfeiture of the above-referenced property,” the letter, signed by Stephen Jobe, chief of the department’s legal forfeiture unit, states.
“Specifically, there is cause to believe that the referenced vehicle is traceable to proceeds of fraud committed by James Schwartz Jr., which resulted in a financial loss to your client.”
About $123,000 went missing from the campaign. About a year ago, Schwartz closed his consulting business and vanished from the local political world. He could not be reached for comment. Schwartz has not been charged with wrongdoing.
The Justice Department letter said the amount of forfeited funds “available for remission” is $13,255.20.
“Because your client’s losses exceed the amount available for remission, the entire amount is granted,” the Justice Department letter said.
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/08/21/letter-confirms-fbi-probe-of-ex-chabot-aide.html
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