Alleged Scam Artist Gave over $250k to Top Pols
Monday, November 21, 2011
The Cranston attorney accused of stealing and using identities of terminally-ill patients and elderly individuals to obtain more than $25 million dollars from insurance companies and bond issuers has also been one of the largest campaign donors in the state since 2000, a GoLocalProv review of campaign finance reports shows.
Forty-nine year old Joseph A. Caramadre and his wife, Paula, have contributed over $250,000 to Democrats, Republicans and Political Action Committees (PACs) since the turn of the century, spreading their wealth to a wide range of local officials and prominent national names such as Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Locally, the top three elected officials to benefit from the Caramadre family have been Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman James Langevin and former Governor Don Carcieri, who combined to receive more than $47,000 from the alleged scam artist. Former General Treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio, Senator Jack Reed and former Senate candidate Matt Brown all received at least $6,000 from Caramadre and his wife.
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Caramadre, the majority owner of Estate Planning Resources, and one of his employees have been charged with conspiracy and multiple counts of mail fraud; wire fraud, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha announced last week.
The indictment alleges that Caramadre and Raymour Radhakrishnan made misrepresentations to terminally-ill and elderly patients and their family members in order to obtain their personal identity information. The duo allegedly used names, dates of birth and social security numbers to obtain more than 200 variable annuities and to open more than 75 brokerage accounts in order to purchase “death-put" bonds in the victims’ names without their knowledge and consent.
The U.S. Attorney’s office claims the defendants either forged the signatures of terminally-ill people on account documents or obtained the signatures by means of misrepresentations. When the terminally- ill person died, it is alleged that Caramadre and others were able to profit by exercising death benefits associated with the investments.
Caramadre’s spokesman Gregg Perry said prosecutors have spread “reckless and uniformed tales” about his client in an effort to get an indictment. He claims Caramadre denies the government’s allegations.
“It is Mr. Caramadre’s opinion, that this case was crafted and conceived by overzealous prosecutors and Federal agents who were lead astray by an insurance industry upset it got beat at its own game with products they designed and offered to the investing public,” Perry said last week.
Democrats Benefited More than Republicans
Caramadre began the alleged scheme in the mid-1990s and he and his wife have been high-end campaign donors ever since. They enjoyed giving to elected officials and candidates from both sides of the aisle, notably donating to the Presidential campaigns of Clinton, McCain and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd. He did not contribute to President Obama.
The two appeared to favor the Democratic Party, however; between the Democratic Senate and Congressional Campaign Committees, the Caramadre’s contributed $56,500. The House and Senate Victory Committee also received a whopping $26,500.
Other Rhode Islanders benefited from the duo as well. The Political Action Committees set up by Senator Whitehouse and retired Congressman Patrick Kennedy each received $5,000 and Patrick Lynch received $5,000. In addition, former Cranston Mayors Stephen Laffey and Michael Napolitano, Providence Mayor Joe Paolino and Governor Lincoln Chafee all received contributions from the Caramadre family.
Common Cause Executive Director John Marion said he wasn’t familiar with all the details in the Caramadre case, but that if he is convicted, those elected officials who did receive contributions should give the money away.
“I would say that if convicted, any politician who received donations from him should donate them to charity,” he said.
Defendants Judged Life Expectancy of People
One of the ways Caramadre and Radhakrishnan undertook their alleged scheme was to regularly place advertisements in the Rhode Island Catholic newspaper, offering a $2,000 charitable gift to people suffering from a terminal illness. The indictment claims Radhakrishnan met with individuals and their family members who responded to the advertisement and gave them money on Caramadre’s behalf, while, at the same time, making an assessment as to the life expectancy of the person.
If Radhakrishnan believed the person was likely to die in the near future, the U.S. Attorney’s office claims, he would tell them Caramadre had more money available for them. Radhakrishnan and Caramadre would either forge or obtain the signatures of the terminally-ill patients to open accounts. Caramadre also allegedly falsely claimed the terminally-ill people were clients for his law practice.
And some of the $25 million he allegedly scammed from the sick and elderly went directly to candidates running for office across the country.
But Perry maintains Caramadre is innocent.
“Despite the government’s theory, anyone who knows Mr. Caramadre understands he did not and could not take advantage of anyone, let alone terminally-ill individuals,” Perry said. “He would like to thank the many families who have expressed gratitude and moral support, especially those families who have participated in this program. Mr. Caramadre believes he will quickly clear his good name and looks forward to returning to his philanthropic activities that have assisted thousands of individuals over the years.”
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