Former city comptroller John Liu received $26,059 in fines from the
The board voted Thursday to fine Liu even though he never received any campaign funds. Liu finished fourth in a five-way Democratic primary for mayor that Bill de Blasio won en route to his election.
Liu campaign treasurer Jenny Hou and fundraiser Oliver Pan were convicted of federal wire fraud charges, though Liu himself was never charged.
Roughly three-quarters, or $20,000, of Thursday’s fine was for what the board called “material representation and fraud.”
Other categories included failing to demonstrate compliance with intermediary reporting and documentation requirements; accepting contributions from corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships; failing to document transactions; accepting over-the-limit contributions; and accepting a contribution from an unregistered political committee.
“[The] $26,000 fine imposed now 4 years after-the-fact is a laughable pittance compared to the $3.5 million penalty unjustly imposed on my campaign five weeks before the election in 2013,” Liu said in a statement to media.
Liu, a former City Council member from Queens, was comptroller from 2010 to 2013.
