Total Durkee Embezzlement: $1.4-$1.7 Million from Correa & Solorio; Combined Cash on Hand Far Less Than Nguyen
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 2, 2012
It had been well-reported in the Fall that Kinde Durkee is charged with embezzling “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from Senator Lou Correa and over $677,000 from Assemblyman Jose Solorio. Well, now we know the totals: over $1.7 million between the two.
According to Solorio’s campaign finance filings from his four accounts, he lost $721,176, and another $154,053 is being held by the LA Superior Court pending resolution of the Durkee case. This means Solorio’s losses could be as much as $875,229. This leaves Solorio with $124,820 cash on hand. However, he has $13,489 in unpaid bills, which leaves him with just $111,331.
From Correa’s campaign finance filings from his two accounts, he lost $795,739, and another $68,744 is being held by the LA Superior Court pending resolution of the Durkee case. This means Correa’s losses could be as much as $864,483. This leaves Correa with $52,683 cash on hand. However, he has $2,346 in unpaid bills, which leaves him with $50,337. (He did set up a third account, which was a legal defense fund, in September after Durkee was charged, but that account only has a $200 personal loan from Correa).
The unintentional big winner in this is Supervisor Janet Nguyen. Correa and Solorio are Nguyen’s two most formidable potential challengers.
Nguyen has $282,577 cash on hand and $11,826 in unpaid bills, leaving her with $270,751. Solorio and Correa have $161,668 combined.
For visual learners:
| Embezzled | Held By Court |
Cash on Hand |
Unpaid Bills |
|
| Solorio | $721,176 | $154,053 | $124,820 | $13,489 |
| Correa | $795,739 | $68,744 | $52,683 | $2,346 |
| Nguyen | $0 | $0 | $282,577 | $11,826 |
For the record, I am not related to Supervisor Nguyen. The last name Nguyen is held by 36% of Vietnamese people.
OC Political 
Keep da Peace said
Solorio is not much of a threat to Nguyen. Correa is much more formidable, politically speaking, and he should have no trouble raising needed funds to run a campaign. The real problem would be if Solorio’s ego gets in the way and he decides to run anyway. That would split the Dem vote and Nguyen would most likely win. If it is head to head with Correa only, we should see a pretty interesting race.
OC Insider said
Solorio will likely fade quickly in OC Democrat politics. In six years, he did spit, and many of the few bills he decided to author were idiotic. He and his moustache need to find real, honest jobs.
You’re right about Correa, though — all it will take to get financially healthy is a few calls to his unions and his OCTA vendor buds.
Let’s never never forget that Correa LIED to all of us Rs and Ds about raising taxes. He said he wouldn’t, and then he did.
Chris Emami said
I want to know how Kindee Durkee could have possibly spent all of that money. Does she have a solid gold jet ski in a caviar pool and did she buy a tiny giraffe like the one in the Direct TV commercial.
CD-45: Durkee Embezzlement Case Freezes 40% of Sukhee Kang’s Warchest; John Campbell’s Warchest = $1.1 Million « OC Political said
[…] Compared to most Democrats who had Kinde Durkee as their treasurer, Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang actually fared pretty well (Irvine is the largest city in the new 45th Congressional District, and Kang is a directly-elected mayor). Kang raised $289,398 and spent $35,715 (for those looking at the FEC summary sheet, please not these figures account for a $1,000 refund), only $188,523 was frozen by the LA County Superior Court, pending resolution of the Kinde Durkee case. He reports $189,559 cash on hand. (I realize the math doesn’t seem to add up, but this is what’s on his FEC report.) Kang’s best case scenario is he has all his money. His worst case scenario is he gets none of the cash back, but that’s only 40% of what he’s raised compared to the wipe-out Jose Solorio and Lou Correa suffered. […]
Board of Supervisors: Two Crazy Races on the Docket « OC Political said
[…] Kinde Durkee wiped out Democrat Assemblyman Jose Solorio and Democrat Senator Lou Correa’s war…, Supervisor Janet Nguyen was left with a warchest that dwarfed those of Solorio and Correa […]
Assemblyman Jose Solorio Pulls Papers for Rancho Santiago Community College District « OC Political said
[…] to be interested in the RSCCD seat after the Bernie Madoff of California Democrats, Kinde Durkee, stole $700,000+ from Solorio, putting an end to his bid to challenge Supervisor Janet Nguyen (R-Garden Grove). […]