John Huang

John Huang (Chinese: 黃建南, born 1945) is a major figure in the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy. He worked for Lippo Bank in California and Worthen Bank in Arkansas, and as deputy assistant secretary for international economic affairs in U.S. President Bill Clinton's Commerce Department before he became a chief fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in 1996.^[1][2]

John Huang
Born	1945 (age 78–79) Nanping, Fujian, Republic of China
Citizenship	United States
Alma mater	University of Connecticut School of Business
Known for	Felony conviction
Date apprehended	August 12, 1999
Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Economic Affairs
President	Bill Clinton

On August 12, 1999, Huang pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge for violating campaign finance laws and was sentenced to one year of probation. He was also ordered by U.S. District Court to pay a $10,000 fine and serve 500 hours of community service. Prosecutors said Huang was responsible for arranging about $156,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Lippo Group employees to the Democratic Party.^[3]

Huang was born in 1945 at Nanping in Fujian. His father Huang Tizhai was a native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang and served the KMT. Huang and his father fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War before he eventually emigrated to the United States in 1969^[1] to study for an M.B.A. at the University of Connecticut. After working as a loan officer at small banks around Washington D.C., Huang moved to Kentucky and Tennessee before becoming Vice President of Worthen Bank in Little Rock in 1984. He continued to work for Lippo at the same time.^[4]

References

1. "Campaign Finance Key Player: John Huang", Washington Post, July 27, 1997
2. • "The Democratic Fund-Raising Flap: Timeline", CNN.com, July 1, 1997
   • Duffy, Brian, "A Fund-Raiser's Rise and Fall", Washington Post, May 13, 1997
3. "Former Democratic fund-raiser John Huang pleads guilty", CNN.com, Aug. 12 1999
4. Greenwald, John, "John Huang: The Dems Cash Cow" Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine, TIME, November 11, 1996