Last week, reporters began looking into Kansas Democrat Greg Orman’s past, including ties with felon Rajat Gupta. At the time, Orman admitted to having what he called a “very, very small” investment with Gupta of no more than $50,000 (which is about the median household annual income in Kansas).
Well it turns out the ties that bind Orman and Gupta are a lot deeper than Orman let on last week. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that financial disclosures show that Orman and Gupta remained business partners well after Gupta was charged:
After Gupta’s conviction, Orman was handpicked by Gupta in April 2013 to be Gupta’s representative on the two-person board of New Silk Route, a Cayman Island-anchored $1.21 billion private equity partnership concentrating on markets in the Middle East, Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Orman and Gupta’s names appeared on Securities and Exchange Commission records as “indirect owners” of the fund in 2013, the period during which Gupta was appealing his guilty verdict.
Orman remained on New Silk Route’s board until March 2014, choosing to leave three months before launching his Senate campaign.
The Topeka Capital-Journal also noted that Orman was listed as a defense witness in Gupta’s criminal trial, but that testimony has been sealed.