New York – Disgraced Democratic moneyman Norman Hsu’s assets were frozen Wednesday at the request of investors who say they were swindled by the ex-fugitive.
A New York judge locked two of Hsu’s bank accounts and sealed his SoHo apartment. The judge also was considering a request to freeze some of the funds Hsu donated to politicians.
The move was prompted by an investment outfit called Source Financing Investors, which is managed by Woodstock music-festival founder Joel Rosenman. An attorney for the group said its investors sank millions into a bogus investment scheme by Hsu, who claimed he had deals to buy clothing in China and sell it to Macy’s, Nordstrom and other retailers.
“I represent entities which lost $40 million,” said the lawyer, Ronald Minkoff. “What’s most important now is to make sure his assets are preserved.”
One of the frozen accounts had only $83,000 in it, and it’s unclear how much money was in the other.
Minkoff asked the judge to issue attachment orders on donations Hsu made to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who have either returned the money or put it in escrow.
