A former Hawaii woman whose parents and sister were convicted of making illegal contributions to Democratic Party candidates a decade ago has become a leading contributor to presidential candidate John McCain as well as a fundraiser and “bundler” for McCain and other Republican causes.

Federal campaign records show Nickie Lum Shapira raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for John McCain committees supporting the GOP presidential candidate. She is shown here with Cindy McCain in photo displayed on Flickr.

Shapira has also contributed $82,400 to other candidates and political action committees in the current election cycle, including $28,500 to the Republican National Committee. Shapira is currently Southern California chair of the National Women’s Committee of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

According to the National Women’s Committee web site:

Nickie is the Managing Partner for JNS Capital, a privately held investment vehicle for companies in the realms of urban entertainment, music licensing, international trade, real estate and mining. Prior to that, she served as a business development consultant for companies such as Tyco International, ADT, EZ Gov, Anheuser Busch and Earth Tech. She is a board member of Children Uniting Nations—one of the most well respected foundations helping foster children and orphans in the United States and throughout the world. She is also on the board of the Maccabi World Games. She is a member of the Advisory Board for AIPAC. She is also a Republican Regent and the Republican Chair for Women’s Alliance PAC, and most recently, was appointed the Southern CA Chair of the National Women’s Committee of the Republican Jewish Coalition. She is a graduate of Princeton University.

JNS Capital LLC is a Beverly Hills investment firm founded by Nickie Shapira’s husband, Joe Shapira, who apparently made his fortune by developing several online dating services, including the Jewish service, JDate.

Nickie Shapira is the daughter of Gene K. H. Lum and Nora Lum, formerly of Honolulu. According to the U.S. Department of Justice:

In May of 1997, the Lums pleaded guilty to a charge of felony conspiracy for making illegal campaign contributions to the 1994 Congressional campaigns.

Shapira’s sister, Trisha C. Lum, pleaded guilty to a separate misdemeanor charge for a related campaign finance violation.

In addition, Gene Lum pled guilty to claiming more than $5 million in false tax deductions for “commissions and fees” which were later transferred back through a Little Rock, Arkansas law firm and various companies the Lum’s controlled.

I wrote several stories about the Lum’s political connections and fundraising activities while at the Star-Bulletin in 1995-1996.

FEC records show Joe Shapira has contributed $104,000 to campaigns since 2004, including a total of $50,000 to the Republican National Committee. Joe Shapira also gave $43,100 to the McCain Victory California Committee in August 2008.

The couple has also contributed in state and local races. According to records of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, Nickie and Joe Shapira each contributed $1,000 to Jack Weiss, a candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney, on August 19, 2008. Nickie’s aunt, Kathy Nojima, contributed the same amount on the same day, as did Gil Shapira of Java Equities, another firm affiliated with Nickie and Joe Shapira.

According to a story today in the Chicago Tribune, which also appears in the Los Angeles Times, the Lum family is linked through several business connections to Shi Sheng Hao, a political unknown who has suddenly surfaced as one of the largest contributors to Republican candidates and causes, including John McCain.

Very interesting.

Everyone was talking yesterday about the vog which was hanging over the island. With Meda on the mainland, I took my camera out early and got to the beach well before dawn. It was still, virtually no wind, and the ocean was calm. The vog added to the sense of stillness. In any case, I gathered up a few of those photos. Just click on this one for more.

And what do you do when you’re home alone and dinner time rolls around? Raid the freezer. I came up with a lone turkey leg, a leftover from some past meal. It went into a pan with some onion, garlic, hot peppers, and then simmered in white wine. After about an hour, I threw in some potato, carrots, and a bit more onion. Salt and pepper to taste. A one dish wonder.