By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com
WASHINGTON — It’s off to prison for 37 months for Christopher J. Ward for defrauding the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and other political committees out of $844,718. He was the treasurer of the committees.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Washington sentenced Ward,42, formerly of Bethesda, Md., on Thursday and ordered him to forfeit $844,718.
Authorities said the political committees were clients of his consulting business.
Ward worked in the NRCC’s accounting department and in 2003 became the NRCC’s Treasurer. Additionally, he operated a business specializing in accounting services and compliance with Federal Election Commission regulations for political committees and candidates.
Authorities said from 2001 through 2006, he served as Treasurer for the President’s Dinner Committees, which ran the annual joint fund-raising dinners sponsored by the NRCC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), featuring a keynote address by the `President of the United States.
Authorities said Ward admitted that from March 5, 2001 until December 2007 he stole about $844,718 by issuing unauthorized checks and wire transfers from the NRCC and political committees who were his clients.
