Untangling The Locke Campaign-Fund Probe -- Confusing Series Of Events Began At Buddhist Temple

OLYMPIA - As Gov. Gary Locke's first year in office nears an end, members of his 1996 campaign staff are still hard at work, but enjoying it less. Locke's campaign-finance chairman, fund-raising consultant, campaign manager and others are busy finding old schedules and bank records as they cooperate with a state investigation of possible money laundering.

The investigation stems from Locke's visits to a Redmond Buddhist temple in the summer of 1996 when he was a Democratic candidate for governor. It's a complicated tale that even some Locke insiders say they don't understand.

To help sort it out, here are some questions and answers about Locke and the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple:

Question: What's this all about, anyway?

Answer: The Public Disclosure Commission is investigating whether temple members and employees who were recorded as making donations to Locke's campaign really made them or were laundering money for someone else.

Q: Why would the commission think that?

A: Because questions were raised in the newspaper. Seattle Times columnist Michelle Malkin has written a series of columns about Locke's 1996 fund raising, including one column in September about the temple visits, which she said "raise intriguing questions" about possible money laundering or other improprieties.

The investigation was begun soon after the column was published, said PDC Executive Director Melissa Warheit. She said it's not unusual for an investigation to be prompted by something in the media.

"We see things in the paper that cause us concern. It's better to investigate and find nothing than to not investigate."

Q: What is the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple?

A: Also known as the True Buddha Temple, the temple was built in 1985 near the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It is the international headquarters for the True Buddha School, which claims 4 million disciples in 20 temples around the world.

Q: How many times did Locke go there during the campaign?

A: He said in an interview last week it was three or four times; he wasn't sure. But his campaign staff has only been able to find records of three visits and now figure that's the right number.

Q: Why did Locke go there?

A: The first visit on July 11, 1996, was for a tour of the grounds and to meet Master Lu Sheng-Yen, the leader of the temple.

The second time, Locke attended a Saturday night service on July 27. The third visit was for a brief speech to a regional True Buddha meeting on Sept. 7.

What Locke originally remembered as a fourth visit, he said, was the only time he received a donation. He said Master Lu gave him an envelope during a meeting in Lu's temple residence.

Q: What was in the envelope?

A: Large bills totaling $5,000.

Q: Were there other donations?

A: The Locke campaign has identified a total of $13,100 in donations from monks, administrators and others connected to the temple, including the $5,000 in question. But the campaign says Locke did not personally receive those other contributions.

Q: How did they get to the campaign?

A: The International Examiner, a weekly Seattle paper, published a story in the summer of 1996 that described Locke receiving a donation from Lu during a Saturday night service, with Lu telling Locke the money was "on behalf of everyone." Locke doesn't remember that, and insists that the one donation he personally accepted did not come during his visit for the Saturday night services.

Q: Why keep pointing out that it was cash? What's the big deal?

A: During the 1996 campaign, state law prohibited cash donations above $50 per person. The limit is now $55 per person.

Q: Why?

A: Because the PDC wants the paper trail that comes with a check.

Q: What are the other restrictions on individual contributions?

A: Individuals can contribute $1,100 to a gubernatorial candidate for the primary election and another $1,100 for the general election, for a total of $2,200 during an entire campaign. So a $5,000 gift from one person, even if it had not been cash, would be illegal.

Q: Did Master Lu make any other contributions to Locke?

A: Yes. Campaign records show donations on July 22 of $1,000 each from Lu, his wife, his son and two employees.

Q: OK. So what did Locke do with the cash?

A: He says when he returned to his office he opened the envelope and saw the money - he says it was the most cash he ever saw - and immediately told fund-raising consultant Dia Hujar to return it to Master Lu.

Q: What did Hujar do with the money?

A: She gave it to Andy Chin, a temple member and Locke supporter, and asked him to return it to Master Lu and explain that the cash donation was illegal.

Q: What did Chin do with the money?

A: He enlisted the help of his uncle, Bobby Chin, and returned the money.

Q: End of story?

A: No. Andy Chin's attorney said he was told that after the temple got the money back, a $5,000 cashier's check was drafted in the name of five temple members.

Q: Checks are OK, right?

A: Yes, but there's still some confusion about the cashier's check. In fact, it might have been cashed before it could be deposited in Locke's campaign account.

On Aug. 7, Hujar went to a Seattle bank with $5,000 cash and asked for five separate cashier checks in the names of five temple members, according to Arnold Huang, chairman of the Washington First International Bank.

Q: What does Hujar say?

A: Not much. She has refused to talk about the case - other than releasing a brief written statement - because the PDC staff told her they are afraid that if campaign officials say too much in the press it will hurt their investigation.

Q: How is that investigation going?

A: Warheit said yesterday that the PDC has yet to interview witnesses in the case, but expects to complete its work by the end of January.

Q: Didn't the Locke campaign just get fined by the PDC?

A: Yes. This week the commission voted unanimously to fine the campaign $2,500 for its mishandling of cash donations given at 1996 fund-raisers in Washington, D.C., and New York. That fine is not related to the temple investigation.

Q: Isn't there a third investigation?

A: Yes, the PDC is also investigating a brochure mailed during the 1996 primary that falsely implied that U.S. Sens. Slade Gorton and Patty Murray of Washington supported Locke in the Democratic primary. The PDC is looking to see whether the campaign had any involvement in what was supposed to be an "independent expenditure" by a group called Friends for a Better Washington.

David Postman's phone message number is 360-943-9882. His e-mail address is: dpos-new@seatimes.com