‘Clinton Cash’ questions India politician’s $5M donation
A politician from India donated some $5 million to the Clinton Foundation — which would have amounted to nearly his entire net worth, a new book about the Clintons claims.
The Clinton Foundation in 2008 reported that it had received a contribution of between $1 million and $5 million from Amar Singh, a member of India’s Parliament and a pal of Bill Clinton.
The size of the donation relative to Singh’s net worth raised questions about whether Singh was the true source of the cash, according to “Clinton Cash” author Peter Schweizer .
The 2008 contribution was made as Congress debated approval of a nuclear agreement between the United States and India, which then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton eventually supported. She met with Singh in Washington in September 2008 to discuss the legislation.
Schweizer speculates on whether Singh was a conduit for other powerful interests in India pushing for approval of the nuke deal. Singh’s donation was treated with suspicion and amusement in India.
Singh, in his own financial-disclosure statement filed with the Indian government, reported his total net worth was approximately $5 million.
“If true, that meant Singh had given between 20 and 100 percent of his entire net worth to the Clinton Foundation!” Schweitzer says.
For his part, Singh gave cryptic and conflicting answers about the donation.
He told the Times of India “the payment could have been made by someone else” on his behalf.
Singh told government ministers his name was listed by the Clinton Foundation because he had “facilitated the payment and, therefore, it ‘erroneously’ appeared in the records,” according to the book.
Singh later beat charges that he bribed three other Indian politicians to support the nuclear deal.
Bill Clinton first met Singh in 2005 through Sant Chatal, an Indian-American businessman who generated millions of dollars for the foundation, in speaking fees for the ex-president, and for Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Clinton and Singh hit it off so well off during their first meeting in India that the former president invited Singh to be his guest at the Clinton Global Intitiative held in New York days later, granting him a seat at the head table.
http://nypost.com/2015/04/28/clinton-cash-questions-india-politicians-5m-donation/