John Huang

Who is John Huang?

A major figure in the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, John Huang worked for Lippo Bank in California, Worthen Bank in Arkansas, and as deputy assistant secretary for international economic affairs in U.S. President Bill Clinton's Commerce Department before he became a chief fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in 1996.

On August 12, 1999, John Huang pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge for violating campaign finance laws and was sentenced to one year of probation. He was also ordered by U.S. District Court to pay a $10,000 fine and serve 500 hours of community service. Prosecutors said Huang was responsible for arranging about $156,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Lippo Group employees to the Democratic Party.

Born in 1945 at Nanping in Fujian, his father Huang Tizhai, was a native from Wenzhou, Zhejiang and served the KMT. Huang and his father fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War before he eventually emigrated to the United States in 1969 to study for an M.B.A. at the University of Connecticut.