Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera’s father Babulal Bera (83) has been jailed for one year and a day for organising a money-laundering scheme that illegally funnelled around $2,60,000 to his son’s congressional campaigns in violation of the U.S. federal law.
Mr. Babulal Bera, a retired chemical engineer who emigrated to the U.S. from India, was handed down the prison term on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Troy L Nunley.
Mr. Ami Bera (51), the only Indian-American lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, was not in the courtroom when the sentence was pronounced.
“This is more than just a naive person who doesn’t know how elections work. The defendant’s efforts were calculated,” Mr. Nunley said during the sentencing hearing in Sacramento, California. Earlier in May, Mr. Babulal Bera had pleaded guilty to the charges of funnelling around $2,60,000 in illegal contributions to his son’s campaign through straw donors.
Ami Bera, who has denied that he knew about it, is seeking his third term from a tightly contested seat in California. He won the first two elections after recounting of votes.
