The federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undertook an investigation into the contribution of a Hawaiian defense supplier and its former CEO to the campaign for the re-election of Republican Senator Susan Collins last year.
This was reported by “Axios”, which obtained a copy of a search warrant against Martin Kao, former CEO of Martin Defense Group (Navatek), suspected of having paid an illegal contribution of 150 thousand dollars to Collins’ electoral campaign. The amount would have been paid to a re-election committee through multiple payments, including on behalf of Kao’s family members. The FBI suspects the former CEO and his wife of having set up an ad hoc shell company, dubbed the “Society for Young Scientists and Engineers”.
Navatek would then have reimbursed the “company” in an amount equivalent to that of the electoral donations, thus circumventing the rules that prohibit political donations by state contractors.
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