Auto dealers nabbed in latest disguised contributions case
State campaign finance law overseers have cracked another case of disguised contributions, marking the fourth time since July a business has been ordered to make a payment to the state over unlawful political donations.
The Office of Campaign and Political Finance announced Monday that Braintree-based Daniel J. Quirk Inc. and Quincy Auto Auction paid $60,000 to the state to resolve prohibited contributions made by employees who were supplied donation money by auto dealership owners.
State laws prohibit corporate contributions to candidates or disguising the true source of donations.
Since July, OCPF has announced three other "true source" cases. Together, the four cases -- involving the auto dealerships, a Rhode Island drywall company, a Worcester law firm and an East Boston waste services company -- resulted in a total of $193,500 in payments to the state's general fund to resolve the disguised contributions.
All four cases combined represent a total of $112,000 in prohibited donations.
According to OCPF, in each of the four cases the committees and candidates who received the banned contributions have disgorged the funds and were unaware the donations were made with corporate funds until notified by the agency.
In the most recently announced instance of banned contributions, the OCPF found that the two affiliated auto dealerships provided employees with money to make 39 separate political donations of $500 each since 2013. Bank records showed several employees deposited money from the company into their personal checking accounts either shortly before or shortly after making the donations.
Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch received $6,000 of the prohibited contributions, with $6,000 flowing to Quincy City Councilor Brad Croall, $4,000 to attorney general candidate Warren Tolman and $2,500 to Gov. Charlie Baker.
Earlier this month, the campaign finance office announced the Lincoln, Rhode Island-based Century Drywall would pay $81,500 to the state to resolve prohibited contributions to the Democratic State Committee, three mayoral candidates and House Speaker Robert DeLeo of Winthrop.
According to the OCPF, Century employees gave $32,500 in company funds to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and $1,500 to then-Mayor Thomas Menino in 2012, along with $10,000 to the Democratic State Committee, $4,500 to Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and $3,000 to DeLeo.
A Worcester law firm agreed in September to pay the state $8,000 after owners Louis Aloise and Michael Wilcox gave employees a total of $3,000 to attend a fundraiser for Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.
A June disposition agreement with OCPF gave Capitol Waste Services of East Boston until the end of this month to make payments to Boston, Revere, Everett and Weymouth to resolve banned contributions in local races. Capitol Waste also paid $44,000 to the state's general fund.
According to that agreement, $38,000 in cash, earned from salvaging scrap metal gathered during trash collection, was given to employees who supported candidates at the request of company officials.
Disguised contributions from Capitol Waste went to Menino, Reps. Adrian Madaro and Dan Ryan, House candidate Joseph Ruggiero of East Boston, Revere Mayor Daniel Rizzo, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, Weymouth Mayor Sue Kay, Boston city councilor Salvatore LaMattina and former councilor Rob Consalvo, and Everett mayoral candidate Robert Van Campen.
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