Pakistani moneybags raise funds for Kerry

[Truth Seeker]

WASHINGTON: Pakistani banking and investment expatriate tycoons in America – many of them said to be friends of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz from his banking days - are donating generously to Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.

 

Sources said that at a recent fund-raiser for John Kerry in New York, Pakistani donors outmatched Indian donors by giving more than half a million dollars. Observers say this is seen as a bid to maintain goodwill for Pakistan in the Democratic Party just in case President Bush is defeated in the November polls.

 

A certain Pakistani official in Washington is reported to have rushed to Boston on Saturday, July 24 and called a meeting of Pakistani-American delegates to the Democratic Party Convention as it gets underway on Monday.

 

A communication sent by this gentleman to these delegates said that he would be attending the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts on invitation from the National Democratic Institute (NDI). He said he was traveling to Boston on Saturday and suggested that Pakistani-American delegates meet him on the sidelines of the convention.

 

The Pakistani ethnic media in New York has carried reports of the South Asian fund-raiser at which the Pakistani donors were allegedly told to be present in large numbers and donate generously to John Kerry. Weekly Pakistan Post reported that almost 20 senior Citibank executives and officials were present at the fund-raiser, including some Pakistani Americans who had never attended any community function in the past. It has also been reported that Dr Bunyad and Shama Haider, a New Jersey couple close to PPP leader Benazir Bhutto, are also actively organising fund-raising events for Mr Kerry.

 

According to Pakistan Post, participants and donors at the Kerry fund-raiser included Mayer Lakhani, a Wall Street investor, Omar Amanat, a businessman, Kashif Zafar, a senior official at Stanley Morgan and M Shaharyar, senior vice president of Citibank. Besides these “financial bigwigs,†the event was attended by over 15 Citibank executives.

 

Some of the Pakistani-American donors gave over $50,000 each, while one of them contributed $100,000. Some gave over $25,000. Normally, US citizens are allowed to donate $1,000 each in one year but businesses are allowed to donate more. The total tally was over $500,000 and was more than what the Indians put together at the same fundraiser. The Kerry campaign left the event richer by about a million dollars.

 

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-7-2004_pg1_2