Toshiba Found to Make Illegal Campaign Gifts

Electronics giant Toshiba Corp. made illegal corporate contributions to several federal campaigns in 1988 that were hidden in the names of two top executives, the government ruled Monday.

The Federal Election Commission collected $18,600 in fines from the company’s U.S. subsidiary, Toshiba America Inc., and executives at its industrial electronics division in California and consumer products division in Tennessee.

It is illegal for corporations to contribute to federal campaigns.

The government said that Toshiba America’s industrial electronics subsidiary in Irvine provided corporate money through an expense report to allow one of its executives, Paul Wexler, to make a $1,000 contribution to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Wexler eventually repaid Toshiba for the contribution.

The FEC fined Toshiba’s industrial electronic subsidiary $750, Wexler $750, and the two executives who approved the checks to Wexler $800.

The FEC also alleged that Toshiba America executive Robert Traeger and his wife, Betty, made $3,700 in donations to various campaigns in Tennessee in 1988 using corporate funds.

At the time, Traeger was vice president and general manager of the manufacturing division at Toshiba America’s consumer products plant in Lebanon, Tenn. The FEC fined him and his wife $6,300.

The FEC also fined Toshiba America’s consumer products subsidiary $6,500 and collected another $3,200 in fines from three executives at the plant who approved Traeger’s donations.

The candidates who received the funds apparently were unaware of the source of the money; the FEC took no action against them.