Trump Donor Imaad Zuberi Pleads Guilty To Obstruction In Trump Inaugural Committee Investigation

Imaad Zuberi, a California donor previously charged is now being charged with obstructing an investigation into source of money he donated to the Trump inauguration committee. His lawyer says he’s going to plead guilty. 

Zuberi has made many contributions to both Democratic and Republican politicians. More notably, he donated around $900,000 towards Trump’s Inaugural Committee. He made one of the largest donations to Trump’s inaugural fund in 2016. He was also a major donor for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

Last year, Zuberi was charged and plead guilty to almost $1 million in illegal campaign donations, campaign finance violations, tax fraud and funneling foreign money into a U.S. election. The Southern District of New York is now charging him for obstruction of an investigation.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman accused Zuberi of trying to undermine a grand jury investigation into the source of said donation. The filing of the charge stated that Zuberi hid the fact that some of that money came from a client whom he promised “exclusive access to certain inaugural events.” 

He allegedly returned the money, totaling to $50,000, to the donor after learning he was under investigation and back-dated a check to make it look as if he did so before the investigation began. Prosecutors also claim he deleting emails depicting a $5.8 million transfer from a foreign national that was received around the time of his political donations to the Trump Inaugural Fund. 

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Zuberi will request to move the trial from New York to California, where he lives and where he was tried and plead guilty to other charges, according to his  attorney David Kelley. If  approved, all upcoming hearings will be held in California.