... The Wylys have given to dozens of Republican candidates, none more so than the Bush family. The brothers were supporters of the campaigns of former President George H. W. Bush and his son, former President George W. Bush.
In 2000, the Wylys financed a third-party group, Republicans for Clean Air, that launched a television advertising broadside against George W. Bush's chief opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), on the eve of crucial GOP presidential primaries. Later that year, the brothers each gave $100,000 to fund Bush's inaugural festivities.
In 2004, the Wylys helped fund Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, another third-party organization that ran controversial television ads attacking the military record of Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), Bush's Democratic opponent.
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Their biggest beneficiaries include three Texas Republicans, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions and former House Republican leader Richard K. Armey, according to the Center for Responsive Politics analysis. The Wylys also have given to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and many other members of the GOP.
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The agency alleges that the Wylys committed fraud and various other violations of securities laws while sitting on the boards of four companies over the course of a decade: Michaels Stores, Sterling Software, Sterling Commerce and Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings.
The SEC says that by using offshore accounts to trade shares of these public companies, the Wylys were able to escape filing the regulatory disclosures required of board members when they buy or sell shares.
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In one instance, the Wylys used insider information to make an offshore purchase of shares in Sterling Software, where they served as chairman and vice chairman, according to the complaint. They did not disclose the purchase even though they knew the company was soon going to be sold, according to the SEC. Less than four months later, Sterling Software was sold, and the Wylys netted nearly $32 million. ...