| WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has recently made public
its final action on four matters previously under review (MURs). This release contains
only disposition information. Specific released documents placed on the public record
within the following closed MURs are cited following DISPOSITION heading. Release of these
documents is consistent with the district court opinion in the December 19, 2001, decision
of AFL-CIO v. FEC, now on appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Once an appellate
decision is rendered, the Commission will review documents related to cases released in
the interim.
| 1. |
MUR 5204 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Hofmeister for Congress Committee, Curtis
Coonrod, treasurer (b) Gary Hofmeister
(c) Hofmeister Personal Jewelers, Inc.
(d) Dreamtech, Inc. |
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| COMPLAINANT: |
FEC Initiated |
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| SUBJECT: |
Failure to file 48-hour reports; corporate
contributions; contribution in the name of another |
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| DISPOSITION: |
(a) Conciliation Agreement: $4,800 civil
penalty* [re: failure to file 48-hour reports]
Reason to believe, but took no further action*
[re: corporate contributions; contribution in the name of another]
(b-d) Conciliation Agreement: $11,200 civil penalty*
[re: corporate contributions; contribution in the name of another] |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
General Counsel’s Report #2; certification
of vote by Commissioners (dated July 30, 2002); certification of vote by Commissioners
(dated November 1, 2002); Conciliation Agreement (Gary Hofmeister for Congress Committee);
Conciliation Agreement (Gary Hofmeister, Hofmeister Personal Jewelers, Inc., Dreamtech,
Inc.); receipt of payment (dated November 6, 2002); receipt of payment (dated November 19,
2002) |
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| 2. |
MUR 5208 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Amboy National Bank (b) George Scharpf,
President of Amboy National Bank and Chairman of its Board of Directors
(c) Peggy Ann Dembowski, Vice President of Amboy National Bank and serves as
Cashier/Trust Officer
(d) Jersey Bankers Political Action Committee, W. Stuart Cameron, treasurer |
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| COMPLAINANTS: |
FEC Initiated |
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| SUBJECT: |
National bank contributions/facilitation of
contributions/contributions in the names of others |
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| DISPOSITION: |
(a-b) Conciliation Agreement: $84,000 civil
penalty* [Amboy National Bank will pay $60,000 and George Scharpf will pay $24,000]
(c) Reason to believe, but took no further action*
Send admonishment letter.
(d) Conciliation Agreement: $2,000 civil penalty* |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
General Counsel’s Report #2; certification
of vote by Commissioners (dated September 20, 2002); Conciliation Agreement (Amboy
National Bank and George Scharpf); receipt of payment (dated September 11, 2002);
certification of vote by Commissioners (dated October 23, 2002); Conciliation Agreement
(Jersey Bankers PAC); receipt of payment (dated November 6, 2002) |
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| 3. |
MUR 5235 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Republican Party of Arkansas, Lloyd E.
Lindsey, treasurer (b) Jennings Osborne
(c) Chelsey Pruet
(d) Rosalinda S. Winstead |
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| COMPLAINANT: |
FEC Initiated (Audit) |
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| SUBJECT: |
Excessive contributions; failure to itemize
contributions from political committees; failure to correctly disclose contributions from
individuals; misstatement of financial activity; failure to itemize disbursements shared
from the non-federal account; failure to pay allocable expenses from federal account;
failure to provide documentation to support an allocation of disbursements for a
fundraising event |
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| DISPOSITION: |
(a) Conciliation Agreement: $45,000 civil
penalty* Respondent will provide written documentation that they have rectified the
excessive nature of the contributions.
(b-d) Reason to believe, but took no further action*
[re: excessive contributions]
Sent admonishment letters. |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
First General Counsel’s Report (dated
September 27, 2001); certification of vote by Commissioners (dated October 10, 2001);
certification of vote by Commissioners (dated October 3, 2002); Conciliation Agreement
(Republican Party of Arkansas); receipt of payment (dated September 26, 2002) |
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| 4. |
MUR 5270 |
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| RESPONDENTS: |
American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees – Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality
(AFSCME – PEOPLE), William Lucy, treasurer |
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| COMPLAINANT: |
FEC Initiated |
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| SUBJECT: |
Failure to fully disclose disbursements on its
disclosure reports; failure to accurately report corresponding cash-on-hand in disclosure
reports from January 1995 through September 2000 |
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| DISPOSITION: |
Conciliation Agreement: $60,000 civil penalty* The
Respondents agree to cease and desist violating 2 U.S.C. § 434; and agree to properly
disclose all future transfers from its federal to its non-federal accounts. |
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| DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Certification of vote by Commissioners (dated
September 25, 2002); Conciliation Agreement; receipt of payment (dated October 22, 2002) |
*There are four administrative stages to the FEC enforcement process:
| 1. Receipt of proper complaint |
3. "Probable cause" stage |
| 2. "Reason to believe" stage |
4. Conciliation stage |
It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners to take any action. The
FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing a complaint. If a violation is found and
conciliation cannot be reached, then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a
respondent.
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