【芝加哥侨学网 编译】据《芝加哥论坛报》4月7日消息，就“挪用公款”、“税务欺诈”两项联邦指控，芝加哥前市长戴利的副幕僚长李双振（Gene Lee）准备认罪。去年夏天，李双振遭联邦检察官起诉，被指控在2007年、2008年从慈善组织芝城中华会馆（CCBA）盗用至少$5000，并且没有交税。
2011年11月17日，芝加哥市议会规则委员会召开有关芝加哥市选区重划听证会时，25区区长Danny Solis （左）与时任华埠特别活动委员会主席的李双振在交谈。（Chicago Tribune 图片及图片说明）
李双振的代理律师安东尼（Anthony Masciopinto）表示，李双振将承认从一个慈善机构拿走至少5000美元，这笔钱是用于他自己的花销，并且没有交税。
《芝加哥论坛报》在报道此案时指出，李双振是“芝加哥前市长戴利多年来的助理”、“芝加哥中国城的领袖”。去年夏天，联邦检察官指控65岁的李双振盗用中华会馆资金。法庭文件显示，中华会馆这个由联邦资助的慈善组织，向“华龙体育社”（Chicago Dragons Athletic Association）支付资金，而李双振就是“华龙体育社”的总裁。同时，李双振还是芝加哥华埠夏令会（Chinatown Summer Fair）总裁。
法庭文件指出，李双振“挪用、盗取，以欺诈的方式获得“，”在没有知会有关方面的情况下，将款项用于他个人”、“蓄意滥用”该资金。该资金，原本应该用在篮球赛事、推广中国传统音乐与舞蹈方面。
李双振的代理律师安东尼表示，李双振认为他对慈善组织资金的花销都是有名目的，比如支付汽油费、买正式场合的套装以及其他个人开销。安东尼律师说，李双振的错误在于他没有去寻求法律和金融方面的咨询，疏忽大意，日积月累，最终造成了不幸。
据联邦量刑原则，对于李双振的案例，18到24个月的监禁是合适的法律制裁，但是，如果李双振认罪，他可以要求“缓刑查看”（probation），这种处罚将更为合适。《芝加哥论坛报》报道说，李双振很可能会以他“广泛而深入地”介入华裔社区、为前市长戴利工作为由，请求法庭从轻量刑。
李双振是芝加哥中国新年游行（Chicago’s Chinese New Year’s parade）的组织者，他在1992年由区长Fred Roti 任命为“华埠夏令会”（Chinatown Summer Fair）主席。《芝加哥论坛报》在报道此背景资料时指出，前区长Fred Roti是一个“臭名昭著的、与帮派有联系的腐败区长”。 （图文来源： Chicago Tribune ）
附件一：
Ex-aide to Mayor Daley to plead guilty to embezzlement
Mon, 04/07/2014 - 11:36am
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/ex-aide-mayor-daley-plead-guilty-embezzlement/mon-04072014-1136am
Mayor Richard M. Daley’s former deputy chief of staff Gene Lee plans to plead guilty to embezzlement and tax fraud charges, his attorney said Monday morning.
Lee — an aide to Daley for years and a leader of Chicago’s Chinatown community — will admit he took at least $5,000 from a charity, spent it on himself, then failed to pay taxes on it, his attorney, Anthony Masciopinto, said.
Federal prosecutors last summer charged the 65-year-old with stealing the money from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in 2007 and 2008.
Court papers say that the federally-funded benevolent association gave money to the Chicago Dragons Athletic Association, which Lee was president of, and the Chinatown Summer Fair, which Lee was chairman of.
Lee “embezzled, stole, obtained by fraud and without authority knowingly converted to his use and intentionally misapplied,” the funds, which were supposed to be used for a basketball tournament and to promote traditional Chinese dancing and music, the papers alleged.
But Masciopinto said Lee believed he was spending the funds on legitimate costs of the charity when he used them to pay for gas, a business suit and other personal expenses, and that he would not have been charged with any crime if he had “crossed his ‘t’s and dotted his ‘i’s.”
“His mistake was that he didn’t seek legal and financial counsel,” Masciopinto said. “Over time it added up — it’s unfortunate.”
Federal sentencing guidelines suggest a prison term of 18 to 24 months is appropriate in Lee’s case. But under his plea deal, he is free to argue that probation would be more appropriate, Masciopinto said.
Lee is likely to cite his extensive involvement in Chicago’s Chinese-American community and his work for the former mayor in mitigation.
A former organizer of Chicago’s Chinese New Year’s parade, he was appointed chairman of the Chinatown Summer Fair in 1992, by then Ald. Fred Roti, according to the fair's website. The late Roti was a notoriously corrupt, mob-connected alderman.
附件二：
Former top Daley aide to plead guilty in embezzlement case
By Jason Meisner Tribune reporter
4:03 p.m. CDT, April 7, 2014
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-former-top-daley-aide-to-plead-guilty-in-embezzlement-case-20140407,0,3458153.story
A fixture in Chicago’s Chinatown community who was also a onetime top aide to former Mayor Richard Daley is scheduled to plead guilty Tuesday to federal charges he spent more than $5,000 in charity funds on himself and failed to report the money on his taxes, his lawyer confirmed Monday.
Gene Lee, 65, who served for years as Daley’s deputy chief of staff, will plead guilty to embezzlement and tax fraud charges before U.S. District Judge John Darrah, according to his attorney, Anthony Masciopinto.
In a case that escaped public attention, Lee was charged last summer with stealing funds donated to the Chicago Dragons Athletic Association and the Chinatown Summer Fair – two groups that he ran, court records show.
The charges alleged the money was supposed to be used for a basketball tournament and to promote traditional Chinese dancing and music, but Lee instead used it for personal expenses. He then failed to report the money on his 2007 tax return, according to the charges.
Masciopinto said Lee believed that he spent money – including for gas to drive to tournaments and new suits to wear when he was “wining and dining donors” –on legitimate charity-related expenses.
“Frankly, from my perspective it’s a situation where he was inattentive to certain formalities,” Masciopinto said. “He used assets…for personal purposes that he believed were required for his charity work. Had he sought counsel from an attorney or a tax expert this could have been avoided.”
Masciopinto said the government calculated a total of about $90,000 was stolen over a four-year period ending in 2008, but he will argue in a sentencing brief that the actual number was much lower. Preliminary calculations call for a sentencing of anywhere from probation to 2 years in prison, he said.