Pauline Kanchanalak

Pauline Kanchanalak (born circa 1951 in Thailand)^[1] is a prominent^{[citation needed]} Thai businesswoman who was indicted for illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic National Committee.

Kanchanalak was educated at Stanford University^[2] and is the sister-in-law of Duangnet Kronenberg. Kanchanalak left the United States for her native Thailand in January 1997, when her ties to major DNC donors were coming under scrutiny; her lawyer said she was "terrified" to be facing so much attention. She voluntarily returned to Washington from Bangkok on July 29, 1997, so she could answer the charges contained in a 24-count indictment returned July 13.^[1] Both women agreed to plead guilty to campaign financing-related offenses and to cooperate in a Justice Department's investigation, the Campaign Financing Task Force. Kanchanalak and Kronenberg entered their guilty pleas before the U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman in Washington D.C. at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 23, 2000. The two are among 25 people charged by the Campaign Financing Task Force, which was established by Attorney General Janet Reno to investigate allegations of campaign financing abuses in the 1996 election cycle.^[3] Kronenberg faced a maximum penalty of one year of imprisonment and a fine of $100,000. In July 1998, Kanchanalak and Kronenberg were indicted on charges connected to the conduct to which they have now agreed to plead guilty. In December 1998 and February 1999, Judge Friedman dismissed various counts in the pending indictment against the two, but the Task Force appealed Judge Friedman's decisions, and obtained a reversal of those rulings in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. All of the dismissed counts were reinstated by the D.C. Circuit, which held, among other things, that, under current law, foreign nationals may not contribute either federal ("hard") or non-federal ("soft") money to campaign committees in the United States.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Donor Pleads Not Guilty to Illegal DNC Contributions", The Los Angeles Times, Jul.30, 1998
2. ^ Hosenball, Mark"On The Trail Of A 'China Connection'", Newsweek, Mar. 10, 1997
3. ^ ^{a b} "THAI BUSINESSWOMEN AGREE TO PLEAD GUILTY TO CAMPAIGN FINANCING CHARGES", Department of Justice Press Release, Jun. 21, 2000
4. ^ "MCLEAN, VA Political Contributions by Individuals", 1995 & 1996 Contributions Part 3 Oct.31, 1996

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Name	Kanchanalak, Pauline
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