Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 12, 1994 TAG: 9404120146
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Note: below
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The White House also said a top Chicago commodities expert had reviewed Hillary Clinton's trading and found no violations.
Though the statute of limitations has long expired on the 1980 tax year, the Clintons wrote checks to cover their liability on a $6,498 short-term capital gain that Hillary Clinton realized but never reported during her foray into the risky world of commodities futures.
``In the course of reviewing documents, we've discovered a small amount of income that was previously undetected,'' White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers said.
David Kendall, the Clintons' private lawyer, said their 1979 and 1980 tax returns were prepared by a certified public accountant in Little Rock, Ark., working from records they provided, including papers regarding trading on sugar, wheat, copper and lumber futures.
But the accountant missed the gain from an initial investment of $5,000 that Clinton made with Stephens Inc., a Little Rock brokerage firm. She began trading with Stephens on Oct. 12, 1979, and closed the account May 14, 1980.
``The records were complicated. There were no year-end summaries,'' said a lawyer familiar with the Clinton case. ``The best answer was this was simply overlooked.''
Hillary turned to Stephens after realizing nearly a $100,000 profit on trades that started with a $1,000 investment made through Refco of Springdale, Ark.
As millions of Americans rush to file their income tax returns by Friday night's deadline, accountants and lawyers for the Clintons are trying to clear up questions regarding their finances.
The White House had asked Leo Melamed, the former chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, to review the Hillary Clinton's trading records.
Melamed concluded: ``Nothing in these records appears to reflect any trading violations on the part of Mrs. Clinton.''
He added, however, that her initial $1,000 investment is ``a lesser amount than would be normal'' and that it would be ``nearly impossible today'' to begin trading with that little.
In a statement released by the White House, Melamed said Hillary Clinton at times operated with ``insufficient margin'' - she had not put up enough money to back up her trades. But that, he said, is the fault of the trading firm.
Melamed also said that because all but two of the 32 trades she made with Refco were overnight trades that moved at the whim of the market, Refco could not have given her preferential treatment.
He termed the controversy over her trading ``a tempest in a teapot.''
by CNB