They cleaned up on donor's dirty money.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler - Nonprofit organizations and political candidates

Andrew Reyes schmoozed with politicians in the White House and, back in Charlotte, plied them and charitable causes with money. But after admitting he embezzled $3.6 million from United Building Contractors, he's given the recipients of his generosity something to think about: Do you give up cold cash when it turns out to be hot?

Yes, insists a lawyer representing the estate of United Building's late owner. "You're in possession of stolen goods and ought to return them," Fred Devore III says. Two nonprofits, the Republican National Committee and four political candidates have returned $6,150 of about $420,000 that Reyes donated.

Devore says hot money is the same as a stolen lawnmower. But maybe not, say some legal experts and most recipients of Reyes' largess. "Nobody blames Bush and Cheney for not returning money from Enron and WorldCom," says Michael Evans, chairman of the Mecklenburg Democratic Party, which received $82,500 from Reyes.

Reyes, 36, seemed to come out of nowhere in 1997, rising to chairman of Mecklenburg Democrats. His day job was chief financial officer of United Building. He disappeared in May 2001. Seventeen months later, he was arrested in California. He pleaded guilty in January to 19 counts of bank fraud and tax evasion.

In most cases, says Ellen...