FUGITIVE CLINTON FUNDRAISER IS CAPTURED

WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE - Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu was arrested in Colorado late Thursday after a judge issued an arrest warrant when he failed to show up for a court appearance related to a felony theft conviction. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents took Mr. Hsu into custody at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said.

Earlier Thursday, spokesmen for Mr. Hsu and the California Attorney General's Office said they had no clue about his whereabouts. His lawyers declined to comment. . .

A California judge issued a bench warrant for Mr. Hsu's arrest Wednesday after he failed to show up for a hearing in San Mateo County Superior Court on 1991 grand-theft charges. Mr. Hsu had failed to appear for a 1992 sentencing hearing after pleading no contest in that case.

The case was dormant until last week, when The Wall Street Journal and others wrote about Mr. Hsu's fund-raising activities. After state authorities said they still wanted to pursue the case, Mr. Hsu turned himself in last Friday and was released on $2 million bail. He was to appear in court this week to surrender his passport and discuss having his bail reduced.

Instead, Mr. Hsu failed to show up at the bail-reduction hearing and a judge issued a new arrest warrant for him. . .

Until recently, Mr. Hsu was one of the biggest fundraisers for Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. The New York senator, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and other Democrats, planned to return or donate to charity Mr. Hsu's election contributions.

Mr. Hsu's legal woes are a political blow to the many prominent Democrats who accepted his funds, in particular Mrs. Clinton. While there is no sign any of them were aware of Mr. Hsu's actions and prior record, they could be embarrassed by the probe of his fundraising.

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Hsu's disappearing act seemed to be a reprise of a move he pulled 15 years ago, when he failed to show up for sentencing in the same grand theft case. Hsu was facing up to three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution payments after pleading no contest to a single count of grand theft in what prosecutors described as a $1 million fraud scheme.

But while free on bail after his plea, Hsu dropped from sight for 15 years, apparently spending time in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Taiwan, only to emerge in recent years as a seemingly wealthy New York resident who donated generously to Democratic political campaigns, regularly attended fundraisers and was photographed with party leaders. . .

The size and scope of Hsu's contributions made him one of the party's largest individual contributors. While he gave $23,000 to Clinton and $7,000 to Obama, he also gave $62,000 to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, $50,000 to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and $50,000 to the New York State Democratic Party.

His contributions also included $38,000 to the Tennessee Democratic Party, $750 to Newsom, $1,250 to San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, and $3,500 to the 25th Ward Democratic Organization in Chicago.

In the 1991-92 grand theft case, Hsu was charged with bilking about 20 investors, including his ex-girlfriend, out of about $1 million in connection with a business that was supposed to provide latex gloves to another firm - only no gloves were ever bought or sold, prosecutors said.

"What Mr. Hsu was in the business of was running a Ponzi scheme," prosecutor Ron Smetana said at a preliminary hearing, according to the transcript. "He was taking money and spending part of it on himself and returning it as it was available. As with any Ponzi scheme, the first ones in and the first ones out always do quite well. Those (who) hope that their investment will continue and stay to the end tend to lose their shorts."

After the glove business collapsed in April 1990, Hsu was kidnapped four months later in San Francisco by a Chinatown gang leader in an effort to collect a debt from him, police said. The abduction was foiled after the car they were riding in ran a red light in Foster City and was pulled over by police, who rescued Hsu, authorities said.

WASHINGTON POST - Facts about Hsu are hard to come by. Twenty-year-old clippings from apparel industry publications say he was born and raised in Hong Kong and arrived in the United States in 1969 to attend the University of California at Berkeley. The computer science major went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for an MBA. . .

The Clinton campaign stood by Hsu until the Los Angeles Times reported his outstanding arrest warrant. At that point, the campaign reversed course, announcing it would donate to charity the $23,000 in direct contributions Hsu made to Clinton's presidential campaign, her Senate reelection bid and her political action committee. The campaign does not plan to return any money Hsu raised from other donors.

THE CLINTONS' OTHER FUGITIVE FUNDRAISERS