NEW YORK (AP) - The former brother-in-law of a Democratic fundraiser imprisoned for cheating banks out of nearly $300 million will not serve jail time after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge in New York.
Shahin Kashanchi (kuh-SHAHN'-kee) of Telluride, Colo., was ordered to pay $75,000 in restitution Thursday to several financial institutions as part of his sentence. He had pleaded guilty to bank larceny in Manhattan.
Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV said he believed Kashanchi ignored red flags indicating documents he prepared for brother-in-law Hassan Nemazee were fraudulent. Nemazee is serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to bank fraud.
Kashanchi said he was stunned at Nemazee's 2009 arrest. He says that for 35 years he only saw "wealth, opulence and success" in him. Kashanchi's sister, Nemazee's ex-wife, supported her brother in court.