Casino syndicator with history of illegal activity contributes $30k to Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

According to OpenSecrets.org, Detroit casino syndicator Michael J. Malik, Sr. contributed $30,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on 6.19.09.

Previously such contributions by Malik and his casino gaming partners Mike and Marian Ilitch flowed to committees to re-elect Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin -- two who have spearheaded Congressional activity that would pave the way for Malik and his partners to develop an off-reservation Indian casino (Bay Mills Indian Community) in Port Huron, MI.

For more than a decade Malik has failed to win such Congressional approvals despite raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for those who have carried his water including Stabenow, Levin, Michigan Representative Candice Miller, Alaska's Representative Don Young and several others that have been key to Malik's schemes.

Malik and Ilitch are also behind similar off-reservation Indian casinos proposed in Barstow, CA (Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians) and Hampton Bays, NY (Shinnecock Indian Nation).

In December 2008, Malik was found guilty on firearms charges in Arizona. As a result he was forced to pay a nearly $15,000 fine and stripped of his right to hunt in a majority of U.S. states for a period of five years.

In February 2009, Malik was found to have violated California campaign finance laws and was also fined. Malik has a history of repeating such violations in California.

In April 2009, Fifth Third Bank filed a complaint in Oakland County (MI) Circuit Court claiming Malik had defaulted on a $1 million line of credit.

In May 2009, Malik entered into a settlement agreement in Florida Federal Court acknowledging that he had previously accepted at least $620,000 in fraudulent transfers (Goldberg v. Malik) as part of a Ponzi scheme. That case stemmed from a $300 million Ponzi scheme case brought by the Securities & Exchange Commission against Jack Utsick and others. Utsick has subsequently taken asylum in Brazil.