Teena Maria Hostovich, Conduit Campaign Contributions, California 2023

LOS ANGELES, California – In a move that has raised eyebrows in the world of politics, Teena Maria Hostovich, a 66-year-old insurance brokerage executive from La Cañada Flintridge, has agreed to plead guilty to making conduit campaign contributions – contributions illegally made in the name of another person – to a joint fundraising committee that included a U.S. Senator’s principal campaign committee.

According to federal authorities, Hostovich knowingly and willfully made a total of $75,700 in contributions to federal candidates’ principal campaign committees and federal joint fundraising committees in the names of other people from May 2020 through 2023. For the calendar years 2021 through 2023, Hostovich’s conduit contributions aggregated to more than $10,000 during each of those years.

As part of the scheme, Hostovich contacted individuals, including employees at the insurance brokerage that employed her, family members of those employees, and individuals who performed personal services for Hostovich and her family, and asked them to contribute individually or have one of their family members contribute to a particular candidate’s campaign or fundraising committee. Hostovich then paid the person the funds via PayPal either before the contribution was made or reimbursed them afterward.

Hostovich admitted in her plea agreement that one of the reasons she engaged in conduit contributions was to secure an appointment to the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees in Washington, D.C. However, she did not obtain this position.

Hostovich is charged with making contributions in the name of another aggregating to more than $10,000 in a year, a felony that carries a statutory maximum sentence of two years in federal prison. In a related filing, Hostovich has agreed to pay a fine of $43,500.

Hostovich is expected to make her initial appearance in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks. The FBI investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Thomas F. Rybarczyk of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section is prosecuting this case. The recipients of the illegal contributions included a joint fundraising committee that included a United States senator’s principal campaign committee, a principal campaign committee for a U.S. senatorial candidate, principal campaign committees for two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a joint fundraising committee that included the principal campaign for a presidential candidate.

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