By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK - The lawyer for a wealthy fundraiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton and other top Democrats said Wednesday that his client's political contributions were legal - despite charges he defrauded banks of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Attorney Paul Schechtman spoke Wednesday after Hassan Nemazee pleaded not guilty to an indictment accusing him of carrying out a $292 million Ponzi scheme.

"Mr. Nemazee's campaign contributions were modest and lawful and this is not a case about funneling money to candidates," Schechtman told reporters.

He added: "Anyone who for their own purposes tries to use it that way or interpret it that way grossly misstates what happened here."

Nemazee's brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan was his first since he was indicted this week on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors say Nemazee cheated three banks out of the money to live an affluent life and pose as an influential fundraiser.

The 59-year-old Manhattan resident was the national finance chairman for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. He later raised money for President Barack Obama.

He is under house arrest on $25 million bail and is wearing an electronic bracelet.

Schechtman told Judge Sidney H. Stein that the bail conditions were "onerous" and that he may ask that they be modified at a future date. Stein ordered Nemazee to return to court Nov. 4.

A prosecutor told Stein that the government was prepared to provide the defense with 15 boxes of material seized with a search warrant at Nemazee's offices.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has said Nemazee "projected the illusion of wealth" for more than a decade as he used fake documents and signatures to deceive banks into thinking he had hundreds of millions of dollars in collateral that did not exist.

Prosecutors say Nemazee used some of the proceeds of the fraud to make donations to the election campaigns of federal, state and local candidates as well as to political action committees and charities.

Prosecutors say his lavish lifestyle included properties in Italy, Manhattan and Katonah, a 2008 Maserati and a 2007 Cessna aircraft.