Disgraced Dem Donor Arrested in Colorado

Norman Hsu prepares to surrender as he arrives at a San Mateo County Superior Court in Redwood City, Calif., in this Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 file photo. Hsu was a wanted man again after he failed to show up for a court date Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007 and a judge issued a new warrant for his arrest. Hsu, whose criminal past has roiled the campaigns of top presidential candidates, was scheduled to ask a judge to cut in half the $2 million bail he posted last week when he turned himself in after spending 15 years on the lam from a felony theft conviction. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) (Paul Sakuma - AP)

California Attorney General spokesman Gareth Lacy said Hsu's lawyers told prosecutors Hsu arrived by charter jet at the Oakland, Calif., airport about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday local time and then wasn't heard from again.

Hsu, a Hong Kong native, had spent 15 years on the lam from the 1991 theft conviction until he surrendered to authorities last week.

Prosecutors say Hsu bilked investors out of $1 million by telling them he had a contract to buy and sell latex gloves, but he never purchased the gloves and had no contract to sell them.

He pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft and was facing up to three years in prison, but he skipped town before his 1992 sentencing date. Investigators believed he'd fled to Hong Kong.

Years later, he resurfaced as a top fundraiser, donating $260,000 to Democratic Party groups and federal candidates since 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records.

A string of Democratic politicians have announced plans in the past week to return or donate to charity Hsu's election contributions. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday he would donate nearly $40,000 in contributions, and Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo. said Friday he donated a $1,000 contribution to a charity that helps soldiers.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has said she plans to give to charity $23,000 in donations she received from Hsu for her presidential and senatorial campaigns and to her political action committee, HillPac.

Hsu has said he believed he had resolved his legal issues, but that he would halt his work raising political money.