Abhijit Das, Federal Election Campaign Act Violations and False Statements, Massachusetts 2023

Former U.S. Congressional Candidate Sentenced for Election Violations

A former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd Congressional District of Massachusetts, Abhijit Das, has been sentenced for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act and making false statements.

On July 18th, Abhijit Das, 51, of North Andover, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 21 months in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Das was also ordered to pay a fine of $25,000.

The charges against Abhijit Das include one count of accepting excessive campaign contributions, one count of conduit contributions, one count of conversion of campaign funds, and two counts of making a false statement. Das was convicted of these charges in October 2023.

Das's scheme involved soliciting personal loans from friends and close associates in excess of the $2,700 legal limit, and structuring contributions as personal loans to a family member to circumvent Federal Election Commission (FEC) reporting requirements and contribution limits.

In addition, Das withdrew approximately $314,500 in funds from his campaign account and used at least $267,000 of these funds to pay outstanding debts for his hotel business. Das also overstated the amount of cash-on-hand in his campaign bank account in quarterly reports to the FEC.

Abhijit Das was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd Congressional District of Massachusetts in the 2017-2018 election. The FBI is determined to protect the integrity of our electoral system and will not let corruption like this go unchecked.

The case against Abhijit Das was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts prosecuted the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-us-congressional-candidate-sentenced-federal-election-campaign-act-violations-and