John Liu Treasurer Arrested

And now, we see how far Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn will go to knock off each of Speaker Quinn's competitors for the Democratic primary.

From The New York Times :

City Comptroller’s Campaign Treasurer Arrested on Fraud Charges
By DAVID W. CHEN and BENJAMIN WEISER
Published: February 28, 2012

The campaign treasurer for John C. Liu, the city comptroller, was charged with fraud and obstruction of justice on Tuesday as an expanding federal investigation of the comptroller’s fund-raising reached inside Mr. Liu’s inner circle for the first time.
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Mr. Liu speaking to reporters on Tuesday in Lower Manhattan. He said he was “stunned” by Ms. Hou's arrest.

The treasurer, Jia Hou, 25, is accused of helping to funnel illegal campaign money to Mr. Liu by using straw donors and impeding investigators’ efforts to gather information about the fund-raising.

And, in a troubling development for Mr. Liu, the charges filed on Tuesday suggested that Ms. Hou was taking instructions from Mr. Liu as she was carrying out the fraudulent fund-raising scheme.

Mr. Liu said on Tuesday evening that he was “stunned” by Ms. Hou’s arrest.

“These allegations against Jia Hou are uncharacteristic and unexpected of this intelligent, hardworking person that I’ve come to know and depend upon,” Mr. Liu told reporters outside the office of his campaign consultant, George Arzt. “And I sincerely hope she will be treated fairly.” ....

He added that he would review the charges and “we’ll figure out how to move forward from here.”

Read the rest of the article here : City Comptroller’s Campaign Treasurer Arrested on Fraud Charges