30% of all of Kurt Hoffman's campaign money comes from 5 addresses

[Unregistered]

Col. Kurt Hoffman is running in the Sarasota sheriffs election and he collected $45,440 in campaign contributions in his first 24 days.

Full story:
https://www.yourobserver.com/article...-contributions

30% of all of Kurt Hoffman's campaign money comes from only 5 addresses:

• Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vsr...ew?usp=sharing

The elected office of Sarasota sheriff is being sold to the highest corporate bidders.

[Unregistered]

Col. Kurt Hoffman collected $45,440 in campaign contributions in his first 24 days.

30% of all of Kurt Hoffman's campaign money comes from only 5 addresses:

• Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vsr...ew?usp=sharing

Mr. Eric Robinson, smile and say cheese for Colonel Hoffman:
https://www.news-journalonline.com/s...2.jpg?MaxW=600

Colonel Kurt Hoffman, smile and say cheese for Eric Robinson's dollars:
https://www.yourobserver.com/sites/d...?itok=GIKrHD42

[Unregistered]

30% of all of Kurt Hoffman's campaign money comes from only 5 addresses:

• Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vsr...ew?usp=sharing

The elected office of Sarasota sheriff is being sold to the highest corporate bidders.

45 contributions to Hoffman came from 4054 Sawyer Rd?

45?

Seriously?

[Unregistered]

45 contributions to Hoffman came from 4054 Sawyer Rd?

45?

Seriously?

Yes, That's how the game is played. Let's set it in motion:
I own a building that has 10 separate units, and I have a voice in the republican party. I rent that building out to 10 different people. Each one of the businesses in that building has an owner, who is a member of the republican party and s/he has numerous employees.

I call the owners of the business and explain that we, (The Party) want to get candidate "A" elected to Sheriff. Candidate "A" needs funds for his campaign but election laws have limits on donations to limit political favors (wink-wink). I have already made the maximum allowable donation under elections laws so I am reaching out to my business contacts.

I call each of my tenants (the business owners) and explain that it would be a "good" idea to help out the party. I "ask" them to write a check in the maximum amount to candidate "A"'s campaign to which I will reimburse them from my personal checking account. I then tell them to speak with their employees and tell their employee(s) that they wished to donate to candidate "A" for sheriff but left their personal checkbook at home. I then explain that they should ask their employee(s) to make a donation and that the employee will be reimbursed the next day when a check from the owner's PERSONAL checking account.

These business owners know that if they don't do as directed by their party, their lease will probably not be renewed so they realize they need to cough up money from their personal account.

Summary-10 businesses give the max of $500 each and each business has 4 employees that give the maximum $100 each. 10 X $500= $5,000. 40 X 100 = $4,000. 50 donations from the same address and $9,000 later we have no corruption (wink-wink)

[Unregistered]

45 contributions to Hoffman came from 4054 Sawyer Rd?

45?

Seriously?

If Eric Robinson's name is on each of those 45 checks, then that's bizarre. How many checks (in total) is Robinson responsible for submitting to Hoffman's campaign?

[Unregistered]

If Eric Robinson's name is on each of those 45 checks, then that's bizarre. How many checks (in total) is Robinson responsible for submitting to Hoffman's campaign?

To answer your question, it depends on how many corporate bank accounts Robinson has access to. With the click of a button in online banking, a check can be sent without requiring an actual signature. Robinson obviously has legal access to hundreds of corporate bank accounts because he is the local GOP accountant; he has access to all those corporate accounts through online banking. The old days of signing hand-written checks is over.

If a complainant steps forward to demand an investigatory forensic audit, then Bridget Ziegler (from the school board political race) will also get nervous because Robinson fully funded her campaign account too.

If there is no complainant, then there is no crime, right?

[Unregistered]

45 contributions to Hoffman came from 4054 Sawyer Rd?

45?

Seriously?

• It's impossible to prove that the 45 individual checks... from 45 different corporations... which are all located at one single address (at 4054 Sawyer Rd)... are shell companies that were created to funnel money to fund political campaigns... UNLESS... the individual bank accounts are forensically audited.
  .
• Without a forensic audit, it cannot be proven that they are shell companies.
  .
• Who would dare to step up to the plate to make a formal complaint?

[Media]

Florida law firms do not have to know or report a company’s money’s real source.

Attorney Martin Press — who is an expert on wealth concealment — says that in Florida, legislators looked at how the creation of shell companies is as an economic growth issue because a lot of construction is funded by anonymous entities — and sometimes that can be a good thing.

Press says that “there are legitimate reasons for hiding money in shell companies.” For example, when Disney was scouting land near Orlando in the 1960s, it used an anonymous shell company. If not, revelations that Disney was the buyer might have sent prices skyrocketing – and Disney World might never have been built.

Attorney Michael Diaz Jr. — who is an expert on money-laundering — says law firms should be subject to tougher state-level reporting laws, but don’t hold your breath for state legislators to address abusive practices.

Diaz said, “we expect the rest of the world not to hide money in shell companies, but Florida is an exception and…”

Full story:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-...reign-investor

[Unregistered]

There is a history to this stuff:

1. Several years ago, the Sarasota County commissioners got a grand idea to lower campaign donations from $500 per person, down to $200 per person. The theory was that it would prevent rich people from "buying elections" -- and it would result in grass roots elections that reflect a majority of the people -- instead of reflecting a minority of rich people.
   .
2. Rich people began making "double campaign donations." They would write one check from them self and then they would write another check on behalf of their corporation. Someone challenged these kinds of donations, saying that an election is supposed to be won "by the people" -- and their argument was that writing checks, on behalf of corporations, represents rich people -- and does not represent real people.
   .
3. SCOTUS ruled that for election purposes, corporations are real people -- and you can make as many corporate donations as you want, as long as it's only one-donation-per corporation. For example, if you have 50 corporations, then you can submit 50 individual corporate checks to your favorite candidate.
   .
4. As the GOP treasurer, Eric Robinson has access to hundreds of corporations -- and millions of dollars -- and that is how he is able to give 50k or 100k to his GOP anointed candidate(s). It may be sleazy, but it's perfectly legal.

Regarding creating corporations for the sole purpose of funding, swinging or winning elections -- I do not know if that is illegal because it has never been challenged in court -- at least not yet. If it is legal, then county commissioners and state legislators need to amend the law to allow anyone to give as much money as he please to the candidate of his choice. Why hamstring the electorate by a $200 limit in Sarasota County? (It's a $500 limit in most other counties).

[Unregistered]

Regarding creating corporations for the sole purpose of funding, swinging or winning elections -- I do not know if that is illegal because it has never been challenged in court -- at least not yet.

If it can be proven that a corporation was created for the exclusive purpose of funding an election, then it would probably be ruled to be illegal. However, has any court case ever addressed that specific issue? How would you prove that that's why a corporation was created? You'd have to do a forensic audit that shows floating balances, in addition to entry and exit points of funds. That would take a court order, which would have to be based on some sort of a civil or criminal complaint.