Edward Mezvinsky

Edward Mezvinsky served as a congressman from the first district in Iowa from 1973 to 1979. In 2003, he was convicted of fraud for allegedly scamming over $10 million from banks and individuals using e-mail fraud methods. Despite his defense that he was suffering from a mental illness at the time, which was worsened by the prescription drug Lariam, which treats malaria, Mezvinsky was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison.http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/5/204623.shtml

His son, Marc Mezvinsky, married Chelsea Clinton on July 31, 2010. Clinton is the daughter of former president Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The couple announced the engagement to friends on November 27, 2009. The lavish wedding was held at Astor Courts, a sprawling estate located 100 miles north of New York City, in Rhinebeck, New York.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7908128/Chelsea-Clintons-wedding-ready-for-her-big-moment-and-more.html

Just days before the wedding, Ed Mezvinsky spoke to Inside Edition about the upcoming wedding. He said, "I'm a proud papa...The family's excited...These are two wonderful human beings that have sensitivity about life and a warm regard for family and that's what it's really about...The guidelines are we don't talk about the wedding, we just enjoy each other." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/ed-mezvinsky-im-a-proud-p_n_662908.html

Mezvinsky also commented about the time he was in prison. He was quoted as saying, "I’m remorseful for what happened, it was a terrible time, and I was punished for that. And I respect that and accept responsibility for what happened, and now I’m trying to move on and am grateful I have the opportunity for that."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/28/ed-mezvinsky-im-a-proud-p_n_662908.html

Edward Mezvinsky played NCAA Football at Iowa State University and worked in Iowa Representative Neal Smith's office in the 1960s. Mezvinsky was elected to the Iowa Legislature in 1968, then served two terms as a congressman in Iowa starting in 1973. A bid for re-election in 1976 was unsuccessful, losing to Jim Leach. Mezvinsky moved to Pennsylvania, where he ran for Congress in 1980 and lost.http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/5/204623.shtml

In the early 1980s, Mezvinsky opened a number of businesses, including grain export, medical instrument companies and a series of get-rich quick schemes with African businessmen, including but not limited to Nigerian email scams.http://crab.rutgers.edu/~mchugh/nigeriamezvinsky.html

None of the businesses worked well, and between 1995 and 2000, Mezvinsky executed 165 transactions under $10,000—alleged evidence of classic restructuring behavior to avoid reporting large amounts of income. He charmed investors, including close friends and friends of friends; and became close to, among others, Bill and Hillary Clinton.http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/5/204623.shtml http://crab.rutgers.edu/~mchugh/nigeriamezvinsky.html

Eventually, his fraudulent business deals caught up with him and in 2001 he was charged with 66 counts of fraud, totally at least $10.4 million. Among the frauds, he was accused of was a classic Ponzi scheme, in which he spent his wife's inheritance, used checks from her congressional account and cheated his mother-in-law out of $300,000. He pleaded insanity, claiming his bipolar disorder didn't allow him to see the downside of his risky investments.http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/5/204623.shtml http://crab.rutgers.edu/~mchugh/nigeriamezvinsky.html

Mezvinsky was convicted in 2003 and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. He was released from prison in April 2008.http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/7/5/204623.shtml