North Andover Ex-House Candidate Indicted On Election Charges

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — A former candidate for the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional House District was arrested Tuesday and indicted on multiple election-related federal charges, prosecutors said.

According to federal prosecutors, Abhijit "Beej" Das, 47 of North Andover, solicited illegal campaign donations, used the money for non-campaign uses and then attempted to cover it up.

Das was charged with one count of accepting excessive campaign contributions, one count of conduit contributions, one count of conversion of campaign funds, one count of engaging in a scheme to falsify, conceal, and cover up material facts and two counts of making a false statement. He was due to appear in federal court Tuesday afternoon.

“Mr. Das allegedly solicited illegal campaign donations, used the money for his own business expenses and debts, and then attempted to conceal his actions,” said acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell. “We are committed to prosecuting this kind of criminal conduct, because doing so protects the election process and vindicates every voter’s right to law-abiding campaigns and transparent elections.”

Das solicited at least $125,000 in illegal campaign contributions from friends and family and repeatedly used campaign money to pay debts related to his hotel business, said Joseph Bonavalonta, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Boston Division special agent in charge.

“We believe Mr. Das engineered this calculated scheme to show he was a viable candidate for office, at the expense of voters and the election process," Bonavalonta said. "The FBI will continue to investigate allegations of campaign finance abuse like these to ensure openness and fairness in our elections so that everyone’s interests are protected.”

Das was a candidate in the 2018 congressional election.

Officials said in a news release that Das devised a scheme in late 2017 to solicit personal loans from friends and associates above the legal donation limit.

"On or about Dec. 17, 2017, Das allegedly emailed a contributor asking for a friend to support his campaign to reach a specific fundraising goal of over $450,000 by the end of the year and indicated that reaching that goal might need 'some engineering,'" the officials said. "It is alleged that Das advised a member of his campaign that he would 'aggregate' the loans into 'one batch' and execute a main transfer into the campaign account."

According to the indictment, Das had three people contribute about $125,000 to his campaign, which he structured as personal loans to a family member. He then claimed that the funds were his personal funds, officials said.

“Campaigns funds are governed by strict federal rules so political contributions aren’t used as personal slush funds, among other reasons,” said Ramsey E. Covington, Boston Field Office acting special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division. “Today’s indictment alleging campaign finance violations for the personal benefit of the defendant, represent a flagrant violation of those laws and blatant betrayal of the public trust.”

The indictment also alleges that Das withdrew about $314,500 from his campaign account and used at least $267,000 of it to pay debts related to his hotel business's vendors, yacht and real estate taxes.

"In making these withdrawals, Das allegedly sought to conceal his conversion of campaign funds by instructing bank tellers to report the withdrawals as separate withdrawal and deposit transactions, rather than direct transfers," the officials said. "Das allegedly aided and abetted in the submission of false information in quarterly reports to the FEC by overstating the amount of cash-on-hand the Das-for-Congress Campaign had in its campaign bank account."

On June 30, 2018, Das reported his campaign had roughly $440,000 on hand, when it had less than $5,000 in its bank account, according to the release.

Das faces up to five years in prison for each of the charges.

All people are considered innocent until proven guilty.