By Lesley Clark, The Miami Herald, August 7, 2006
8 Aug 2006 // A watchdog group has filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Bacardi and Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, alleging the Miami-based liquor company ''illegally used corporate resources'' to raise as much as $60,000 for Martinez's 2004 run for the U.S. Senate.
The complaint, filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group that Republicans have assailed, saying it targets the GOP, contends that Bacardi violated FEC regulations by using corporate funds to pay for food and liquor served at a May 2004 fundraiser at the company's corporate headquarters.
The agency could fine the campaign or the company if it finds that laws were broken. The FEC in 2004 fined Bacardi $750 for failing to report campaign contributions on time.
A spokeswoman for Martinez said he had not received a complaint from the FEC and that it would be ``irresponsible to comment further.''
But spokeswoman Kerry Feehery said Martinez ``takes both the letter and spirit of federal election law very seriously.''
A spokeswoman for Bacardi said the complaint was ''rife with factual errors and without merit.'' Spokeswoman Patricia Neal said the event didn't raise as much money as the group claimed and that ``the heart of the complaint involves a minimal issue that Bacardi voluntarily brought to the attention of the FEC more than two years ago. . . .
''We are confident that if the complaint is forwarded to Bacardi by the FEC, ultimately it will be dismissed as being without merit,'' Neal said, adding that the group ``routinely files such complaints to advance a political agenda.''
The complaint also charges that Martinez violated election law by failing to properly identify the employer of five senior Bacardi executives, including Bacardi U.S.A. CEO Eduardo Sardina and Bacardi U.S.A. General Counsel Frederick Wilson, who together contributed $5,000 to his campaign.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, called the fundraiser an ``archetypal example of how special interests use corporate money to buy influence in Washington.''