More than a week after major Senator Collins donor Martin Kao was arrested for allegedly defrauding Collins’ Paycheck Protection Program out of $12.8 million in government funds intended for small business relief, Mainers are still waiting for answers from Collins on influence peddling and her relationship with Kao. 

 

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According to the Department of Justice, Kao leveraged his connections to influential DC Senators who had crafted the PPP to intimidate banks into approving his fraudulent loan applications. But before he was arrested for defrauding the government out of millions of dollars, Senator Collins helped Kao obtain an $8 million defense contract and Kao was linked to a likely illegal straw donor scheme that funneled $150,000 to a pro-Collins super PAC.


“Senator Collins owes Mainers a full explanation of the nature of her relationship with Mr. Kao and her knowledge of the illegal straw-donor scheme set up to boost her campaign,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “After 24 years in Washington, Senator Collins may have gotten comfortable trading influence for campaign contributions — but that’s not how we do things in Maine.”

 

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