Sant Chatwal might not strike one as a consummate political insider. A Sikh from India with piercing brown eyes, Chatwal arrived in the United States in 1975 by way of Ethiopia and Canada. Earlier in his life, Chatwal served in the Indian military as a jet pilot.
In the United States he set about building a commercial empire of Indian restaurants and hotels, primarily in New York City. First came the Bombay Palace restaurant chain, followed by the luxurious Hampshire Hotels. Chatwal is a study in contrasts-a globe-trotting businessman with celebrity friends and high-level political connections, yet an earthy Punjabi who still enjoys eating sarson ka saag.
Even after more than thirty years in the United States, he remained a staunch Indian patriot, and still refers to India as "my motherland." His deep friendship with the Clintons began with a mutual love for Indian cuisine. Bill first tasted Indian food at a political fundraiser held at Chatwal's New York City restaurant, the Bombay Palace. But, as we will see, some savory financial transfers helped, too.
Chatwal has always been exceedingly blunt about how and why he steered money in an effort to influence events in Washington. "I used to spend money on senators and congressmen," said Chatwal. While in 1988 that "investment" had been in Michael Dukakis, Chatwal "next started betting on various presidents" and "happened to click with Clinton." The former governor of Arkansas was exceedingly thankful. Chatwal says Clinton offered him whatever post he wanted once he was elected president, but Chatwal said he simply wanted closer US-Indian relations.
When Hillary ran for the Senate in 2000, Chatwal became one of her largest soft-money donors. By the time Bill left the Oval Office in 2001, Chatwal was firmly in the Clintons' inner circle. Bill appointed him a trustee of the Clinton Foundation, an appointment reserved only for long-time friends and large financial benefactors.
Chatwal had lavished money on the Clintons, including hundreds of thousands in soft-money donations and millions in campaign funds raised, and he continued his largesse once Bill was a private citizen. Chatwal helped arrange for millions of dollars in lucrative speaking fees and steered additional millions to the Clinton Foundation.
When Hillary ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007, he was cochair of her presidential exploratory committee. He even received that most prized of gifts in the Clinton universe: an invitation to attend Chelsea's wedding.
Sant Chatwal's son Vikram also became a Clinton benefactor. Widely known for his partying ways, Vikram became Hillary's 2008 campaign bundler. Tooling around New York in an Aston Martin, he was known to run up large bar tabs and date everyone from Lindsay Lohan to various supermodels. Like his father a committed Sikh, he was known around town as the "Turban Cowboy.”
Vikram considers the Clintons close friends. According to the New York Observer,"I know him [Bill Clinton] very well, he said of the former President. He added that the two men have often sat down and talked about books and Gandhi, as well as, he said, “women and models I've dated. He, like any man in the world, appreciates beauty." When Vikram got married in India in 2006, Bill Clinton attended the wedding. Guests "were welcomed by dancing eunuchs, elephants painted entirely white and whitewashed men wearing angel wings on white horses." The Clintons also attended Sant Chatwal's other son's wedding, a more calm affair at Tavern on the Green in New York in 2002.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Sant Chatwal has a history of legal trouble involving financial transactions and has declared bankruptcy on at least one occasion. In 1995 he came under a cloud of legal suspicion concerning the bilking of millions from Indian banks. In the United States he was chased by the IRS and the New York State government for $30 million in unpaid taxes.
In a visit to India with Clinton in May 2001, Chatwal was arrested and charged with defrauding the New York City branch of the Bank of India out of $9 million he borrowed in 1994. "He posted bail equivalent to $32,000, then fled India, boarding a flight to Vienna, despite an attempt by authorities to detain him" reported the New York Daily News.
In 1997 the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) "sued Chatwal over his role as a director and a guarantor of unpaid loans at the failed First New York Bank for Business," the Washington Post reported. Regulators were frustrated that Chatwal claimed he couldn't repay the money (reported to be "in excess of $12 million"), despite the fact that he continued to live in a New York penthouse worth millions of dollars.
Three years later, with no settlement on the horizon, Chatwal entertained guests in his lavish penthouse for Hillary's Senate campaign, raising $500,000. On December 18, 2000, just a few months after the fundraiser (while the Clintons were still in the White House), the FDIC "abruptly settled" the case against Chatwal, according to the Washington Post, allowing him to pay a mere $125,000 and walk.
The Chatwals undoubtedly enjoyed the perks and access that came with contributing and raising money for politicians like the Clintons. But what Sant Chatwal wanted for all that money extended far beyond the ordinary transactions that take placein Washington. He wanted to influence American policy toward India, particularly as it related to the sensitive area of nuclear technology. He openly admitted that he "spent tons of time and effort to make sure that the [Indian-US] nuclear deal goes through.
Some of that money was spent in India, where, according to a leaked diplomatic cable between the US embassy in Delhi and the US State Department, at least two ministers and several members of parliament were claimed to have been paid off, with reports of "two chests containing cash" ready for use as "pay-offs" to win support for the Indian-US nuke deal.
Chatwal was alleged to be involved, but he maintains the allegation is baseless. What we do know is that millions were spent on cultivating the relationship with the Clintons, who not only received money directly through lucrative speaking deals, but also reaped millions in donations to the Clinton Foundation.
On July 18, 2005, President George W. Bush and visiting Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh signed a letter of intent at the White House to allow India access to US nuclear technology. The agreement was part of a Bush administration policy to work closely with India to serve as a counterbalance to China. But the agreement required Congress to amend US law and make a special exception for India.
The plan met immediate criticism on Capitol Hill. Democrats and Republicans both argued it would lead to greater nuclear proliferation by rewarding a country that had violated the NPT. Remarkably silent during this debate was Hillary Clinton, who not only sat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, but was also a senior member of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, which dealt specifically with nuclear proliferation issues.
In September 2005 Bill Clinton flew on Frank Giustra's plane from Uzbekistan to Lucknow, India. The capital city of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow was not Mumbai or any of India's other cosmopolitan cities. Clinton's visit set off an intense flurry of local interest and activity. The road from the airport to his hotel was "freshly tarred" for his arrival and party workers hung banners along the road praising Clinton's visit. Along for the ride were Giustra, Doug Band, fundraiser Tim Phillips, and Sant Chatwal, who had made the arrangements.
Clinton and his companions checked into the Taj, a palatial hotel with graceful pillars on the banks of the Gomti River in the heart of the city's business district. Bill's six-person delegation had two entire floors to themselves and enjoyed a large feast with evening entertainment.
Before the festivities began, Clinton joined Chatwal for a private meeting where he was introduced to an obscure member of the Indian parliament named Amar Singh. Amar Singh has an easy swagger and a broad grin, marking a flamboyant manner and a combative attitude that has suited him well in the sharp-elbowed world of Indian politics. (He once got into a fistfight on the floor of the Indian parliament.) Heavyset, with thick glasses and thinning hair, Singh has another notable quality. His "access to big money is .. legendary," according to the Indian press.
Singh would be implicated in a number of financial and vote-buying scandals in Indian politics. In 2011 he was indicted on charges that he bought votes in parliament to secure the nuclear deal.
A trial was never held. What Singh discussed with Clinton and Chatwal was never made public. They met for about an hour, but in that short span of time a close collaboration and friendship between the Indian politico and both of the Clintons began.