Anne Arundel County Parks and Recreation:A political watchdog group is alleging a prominent Maryland developer and philanthropist violated campaign-finance laws.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission yesterday claiming Edward St. John illegally funneled more than $60,000 in contributions to the Maryland Republican State Central Committee and the 2006 U.S. Senate campaign of Michael Steele through his own company's vice presidents.
St. John is the head of St. John Properties Inc., a real estate company with several office parks in Anne Arundel County. Recently named a member of the state's new Economic Development Commission, he was chosen as the Philanthropist of the Year in 2008 by the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County.
St. John and his companies are also a part of the county political scene. He was a fundraiser for former county executive Janet S. Owens and served on committees during her administration.
In June 2008, St. John paid $55,000 in civil fines after being charged with making campaign contributions exceeding legal limits through third parties that anticipated reimbursement.
According to the Office of the State Prosecutor, several St. John vice presidents made contributions to the campaigns of Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith in 2006 and were paid back by St. John in the form of year-end bonuses.
No criminal charges were filed because "there was insufficient evidence to establish that Mr. St. John knew that such actions violated Maryland law," the office officials said in a statement.
The state prosecutor also found more than $300,000 had been contributed during that election cycle through third parties and limited liability companies to both Democrats and Republicans. All of the contributions, however, were within legal limits.
The contributions to the central committee and Steele, who is now chairman of the Republican National Committee, are suspicious because they were made by some of the same vice presidents and during the same time frame as the ones involved in the other violations, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the ethics grou
p."It was unlikely he was involved in this scheme for some candidates and not for others," Sloan said.
The complaint's goal is to spur federal action, she said. The election commission could take up a year to release a finding.
"They should at least investigate," Sloan said. "This looks like more than just a … state problem."
St. John could not be reached for comment.
Following the earlier fines, a statement released by his attorney said the developer and his executives repaid the bonus money tied to campaign contributions when they became aware the reimbursements could violate election law.
A statement from St. John's Properties said the company will ask the FEC to take no action and dismiss the "stale complaint."
"The allegations in this administrative complaint are based on an election that took place three years ago, and have been addressed previously by St. John Properties Inc.," the statement said.
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