The FBI is investigating a possible scheme to illegally fund Sen. Susan Collins' 2020 reelection in Maine
- The FBI is investigating whether Sen. Susan Collins' 2020 reelection received illegal funding.
- Prosecutors accused a naval contractor of funneling cash into a pro-Collins super PAC.
- Regulations make it illegal for government contractors to donate to super PACs.
The FBI is looking into possible illegal donations funneled into a 2020 reelection fund for Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Prosecutors are accusing the naval contractor Martin Kao - who Collins once helped - of illegally funding her 2020 reelection campaign.
According to a warrant seen by Insider that was filed in April, FBI investigators accused Kao of moving $150,000 into the 1820 PAC, a Collins-linked super PAC, through illicit means.
Super PACs are a type of political action committee that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money on political candidates. By law, government contractors cannot donate to super PACs.
Until November, Kao was the head of Navatek, a research-and-development company that works with the Department of Defense and other government agencies and has since changed its name to Martin Defense Group.
According to Axios, Collins once helped Navatek clinch an $8 million naval research contract to develop technology for faster, safer boats. This took place in July 2019, before most of the donations were made.
Bloomberg reports that Martin Defense Group has offices in Maine, where Collins won reelection last year for the fifth time, against the Democrat Sara Gideon.
The FBI affidavit says Kao and his wife, Tiffany Jennifer Lam, set up a company called the Society for Young Women Scientists and Engineers - a shell company thought to have been used to funnel money into the 1820 PAC. Kao is said to have done so by having Navatek write the shell company a $150,000 check, which was then given to the super PAC.
The FBI further alleged in documents appended to the search warrant that between June and September 2019, Kao's bank records indicate he reimbursed family members who made donations to Collins' reelection campaign. At the same time, Navatek is also said to have refunded any of Kao's colleagues who made financial contributions to Collins.
Known as straw donations, these are illegal means that some donors use to circumvent campaign contribution limits by sending in funds on behalf of other people.
The warrant application quoted an email exchange between Kao and the senator's finance director, which said: "If you have friends or family members that would be willing to donate please don't hesitate to send them my way."
Annie Clark, a spokeswoman for Collins, told Axios over email: "The Collins for Senator campaign had absolutely no knowledge of anything alleged in the warrant."
Kao is facing other legal issues; the US Department of Justice in September charged him with coronavirus-relief fraud. Prosecutors alleged then that Kao received more than $12.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans by filing false claims. He was charged with two counts of bank fraud, and five counts of money laundering.