A criminal complaint was unsealed earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, charging Dao Yin, a Queens resident and former 2024 New York State Assembly candidate, with wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud New York State’s public campaign finance system by reporting false campaign contributions—including forged signatures of purported contributors—to secure matching funds. Yin was detained today and will be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon.
The charges were announced by Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, New York Field Office (FBI); and Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation.
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“As alleged, the defendant, a former candidate for public office, submitted forged campaign contribution cards from members of the very community he hoped to represent to fraudulently obtain thousands of dollars in public matching funds that he was not entitled to receive,” the United States Attorney’s Office said. “Today’s arrest demonstrates that this office will protect the integrity of elections and pursue candidates for elected office who violate campaign finance laws.”
Mr. Nocella expressed gratitude to the New York State Public Campaign Finance Board (PCFB) for their support.
“Through lies and deception, the defendant allegedly stole over $160,000 in taxpayer dollars to fund his campaign for elected office,” remarked Matthew R. Galeotti, Chief of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. “Fraud and public corruption undermine the integrity of our elections and will not be accepted. The Criminal Division remains dedicated to vigorously prosecuting frauds that harm US interests and waste public monies.
“Dao Yin allegedly manufactured support in order to receive more than $150,000 in illegal funding for his election campaign. Yin is also accused of abusing his position to scam a matching money program that may have helped other candidates for state government. “The FBI remains committed to investigating anyone who uses deceptive tactics to gain a seat in public office,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia.
“As charged, this former candidate for the New York State Assembly manipulated the campaign finance system through fraudulent campaign contributions in order to claim matching funds that he was not eligible to receive,” said DOE Commissioner Strauber. “DOI and our law enforcement partners in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI remain committed to protecting the integrity of the campaign finance system and public dollars.”
The PCFB oversees and administers the New York State Public Campaign Finance Program (the Program), which allows candidates running for statewide or state legislative office to apply for and receive public matching funds based on small donations from residents in relevant districts.
To participate in the program, a candidate must register an authorized committee with the PCFB, run in a covered election for a covered office, meet threshold requirements for matchable contributions and total monetary contributions received, and follow all other program requirements, such as making periodic disclosures to the PCFB. Contributions of $5 to $250 are normally eligible for public matching money if they meet specific criteria. For a State Assembly campaign, the candidate must have raised at least $6,000 in matchable contributions and received at least 75 matchable donations. To be eligible for matching funds, cash contributions must be submitted by the candidate’s authorized committee on contribution cards that include the contributor’s name, residential address, and date of contribution. The contribution card must also be signed by the contributor.
According to the complaint, the defendant registered his campaign committee, Dao Yin for New York 2024 (the Committee), with the PCFB so that it may collect funding from the Program. The defendant functioned as the committee’s treasurer.
To qualify for public matching funds, the defendant sent bogus contribution cards to the PCFB via the Committee, which featured the names and purported to bear the signatures of people he falsely claimed had donated to the Committee. By doing so, the defendant received about $162,800 in public matching money from the program.
The complaint contains claims, and the defendant is deemed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of all charges, the defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in jail.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section as well as the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorneys Andrew D. Grubin and Rebecca Schuman, with support from Trial Attorney Lina Peng and Paralegal Specialist Daniel Arakawa.
