GOP’s Biggest Donor: Will he go to jail?

Sheldon Adelson is a casino mogul, hint number one. He also gets investigated a lot about connections to the Chinese mafia, money laundering, organized prostitution (I wonder what is unorganized prostitution?), and now he is being investigated for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPS) which is about American companies liable for bribery committed by the foreign subsidiaries. These are not new allegations.

  

What are the odds?

But back to his GOP donations which are estimated to range between $98 million to $150 million in 2012 with a promise to give more for the next election. He even gave Newt Gingrich $20 million when it was clear he would lose. What a guy.

His crime falls under the area of aiding and abetting, which for a casino mogul I find highly ironic. He and/or his Las Vegas Sands casino is suspected of directing officials to make bribes. Why, well he’s good at it. In 2001 he and a colleague flew to Beijing and met with Chinese officials to get them to allow more gambling in Macau. The Chinese were worried about the US Olympic committee voting against the bid to have the 2008 Olympics. So Adelson contacts Rep. majority leader Tom DeLay who immediately tells him not to worry the bill will disappear. Then Adelson asks for his change in Macau. Money talks.

Conservatives are now campaigning to gut the FCPA and since 2010 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made a big push to tone down anti-bribery laws in some areas. This is under the guise of making things more business friendly. Of course, the Las Vegas Sands holds a seat on the Chamber’s board of directors.

So, will he go to jail? I bet the Las Vegas odds are highly against it. Good bet, bad for the country.