Campaign watchdog calls for probe into Indian American group’s fundraiser
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- NC campaign watchdog files written complaint against Indian-American group's political fundraiser
- The complaint says some of $338,800 may be from straw donors.
- Second complaint questions state senate leader’s campaign disclosures on two more fundraisers.
A campaign finance watchdog asked the State Board of Elections to investigate what he called an “eye-popping” fundraiser that he says drew more than $165,000 each to the campaigns of two of the state’s most powerful leaders.
In a written complaint, Bob Hall says he found evidence of “straw donors” and possible payments from business funds — both of which are illegal under state election laws. He also asked the board to look into the “apparent lack of timely accounting and disclosure of the expenses associated with the months-long fundraising operation.”
It was one of two complaints related to the fundraiser filed with the elections board Tuesday. Jim Fink, a former Rockingham County planning board member, claims that state Senate leader Phil Berger’s campaign did not file expenses for that fundraiser and two others as required under election law.
Hall’s complaint reports “multiple” examples of contributions naming donors who, when contacted, denied making them or don’t live at addresses listed on campaign reports.
People who have surpassed donation amount limits but want to give more, or who give money to candidates through businesses, have been linked to such irregularities in the past. Both practices are illegal.
The N.C. Indian American Association advertised and hosted a fundraiser on May 31 at the Lime and Lemon Indian Bar and Grill in Chapel Hill. The association’s filings with the state describe it as a nonprofit under what is known as the 501(c)(3) designation in the federal tax code, which means it is not supposed to engage in political fundraising.
The News and Observer first reported on the fundraiser on Tuesday, before Hall filed his complaint.
UNC-Chapel Hill Trustee Vimal Kolappa, who helped organize the fundraiser, told the N and O on Tuesday that he had nothing more to say about it before ending a phone call.
In a recent interview, he had said that the association did not collect campaign donations, nor did it pay for the event’s expenses. Spokesmen for Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, and House Speaker Destin Hall, a Caldwell County Republican, say their organizations paid for the May 31 fundraiser.
Association President Saikiran Kolavennu has not responded to the N and O’s multiple requests for information about the nonprofit or the fundraiser. An N and O reporter last week visited his home, which is listed as the association’s address, to try to obtain its federal tax returns, which are public record.
A watchdog’s tally of donations
Hall’s review of the campaign filings of Berger and House Speaker Destin Hall identified $338,800 in donations that appear tied to the fundraiser. Many of them come from first-time Indian American donors, said Hall, the retired executive director of Democracy North Carolina.
“The amount given related to this event by the Indian American donors exceeds their total contributions of $260,000 over the past 25 years to all other state legislative, judicial and executive branch candidates,” Hall says in his complaint. “In fact, nearly two-thirds of the Indian American donors had not given a recorded contribution to a state-level campaign before this event.”
Hall reviewed the LinkedIn pages of donors who gave the day of the fundraiser and up to two weeks after the May 31 event, he told the N and O. The majority were people he identified as Indian Americans, mostly from the Triangle, he said.
Spokesmen for Berger and Speaker Hall’s campaigns told The News and Observer in August that their organizations had not received invoices by June 30 so they could not include the spending in their latest campaign finance reporting. The spokesman said the payments would be reflected in the next campaign report, due early next year.
They had not responded to a request for comment by complaints filed by Hall and Fink by late morning Wednesday.
Second complaint focuses on senate leader
Fink supports Berger’s opponent, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, in the upcoming Republican primary for Berger’s seat.
Fink’s complaint cites two other fundraisers for Berger in May that he says did not include expenses reported in his campaign reports. The first was May 5 at The Surf Club in Wrightsville Beach; the second was May 12 at a location only disclosed to donors who registered to attend. The complaint included flyers for both events.
Fink, as a Rockingham County planning board member, voted against a zoning change in 2023 that would have helped pave the way for a casino in Berger’s home county, WRAL first reported. The zoning change was later adopted by the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners, which includes Berger’s son, Kevin.
Berger at that time supported allowing casinos in North Carolina on non Native American lands, which would reverse a longstanding ban. One of those three casinos would have gone to Rockingham County, despite fierce opposition from some residents.
And a Baltimore casino developer had been working behind the scenes to line up properties in Rockingham and the other two counties that lawmakers had targeted for casinos — Nash and Anson.
Sen. Berger pushed for the change to the point that he wanted it inserted into the state budget, which delayed its passage. But there weren’t enough votes in the House to allow that. Berger has since said repeatedly that he now opposes allowing casinos in North Carolina.
Some names excluded from Hall filing
Hall did not report the names of people he suspects are straw donors or proxies for business donations in his complaint, but said he shared them privately with the board. He wants investigators to interview the donors before others do, he said.
In his complaint, Hall also alleges that the donations could be tied to the effort to win state money to build a 25,000-seat cricket stadium. Kolappa has been seeking $100 million from state lawmakers for the stadium, and brought the proposal to the UNC trustee board in late July.
Two donors Hall names in his complaint have business interests in cricket. Vijay Nandakumar is part owner of the Morrisville Raptors minor league cricket team and co-owns the Core Cricket Academy. He gave the presentation to the UNC trustees, but he and Kolappa denied in interviews with The N and O that the fundraising was tied to the stadium project.
Hall found $50,000 in donations tied to Nandakumar, his wife and business associates, his complaint says. A second donor, Saravanakumar Chandran of Herndon, Va., has a real estate company with plans to develop a cricket center in Granville County, Hall said. Chandran and other donors with business and family ties gave $50,000 to the association’s fundraising campaign, Hall said.
Hall said if the fundraiser violated state law Berger and Speaker Hall should forfeit all donations raised from it. Any contributions from straw donors or businesses should also trigger a felony penalty against those behind them if they exceeded $10,000, Hall said.
If the elections board digs into the complaints, there will be no immediate public disclosure.
State elections board investigations into campaign finance allegations are secret under a law state lawmakers passed in 2018. If the board finds evidence of a violation, it has to refer the case to the State Ethics Commission for a private review before forwarding the case to a state prosecutor.
Prior to the change in state law, the board held public hearings if probable cause of violations were found.
This story was originally published September 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM.