President Bush has been forced into an unprecedented U-turn over a pardon he recommended for a convicted fraudster after it emerged that the conman’s father had given a sizeable donation to the Republican Party this year.

Isaac Toussie, who conned hundreds of poor New Yorkers in a 2001 property fraud, was one of 19 people whose names were put forward for clemency by the outgoing President.

But after it emerged that Toussie’s father, Robert, had given $28,500 to the Republican National Committee in April – his first political donation – the Bush Administration did a rapid volte face. Robert Toussie also donated $2,300 to John McCain’s presidential campaign.

“Based on information that has subsequently come to light, the president has directed the pardon attorney not to execute and deliver a grant of clemency to Mr Toussie,” the White House said in a statement.

Toussie, 36, pleaded guilty in 2001 to falsifying documents and in 2002 to mail fraud and was handed a five-month prison sentence, a $10,000 fine and three years probation, which ended in 2006.

His victims, mostly poor blacks and Latinos, say that they were lured into purchasing homes they could not afford in Long Island, that the properties were overpriced by up to 50 per cent, were often defective and the cost of mortgage repayments were hidden.

A victims’ lawsuit currently in the courts also claims that Toussie faked praise from black groups and celebrities including Whoopi Goldberg and Maya Angelou.

The Toussie case is particularly embarrassing for the Bush Administration as it seems to breach Justice Department guidelines that pardons would be considered only five years after a defendant has ended his sentence. Toussie’s case should have become eligible only next May.

It also appeared that lawyers for Toussie bypassed the usual Justice Department channels to appeal directly to the White House, where the counsel Fred Fielding approved the application.

“The counsel to the President reviewed the application and believed, based on the information known to him at the time that it was a meritorious application. He so advised the president, who accepted the recommendation,” the White House said.

The incident mirrors a similar case under President Bill Clinton who pardoned the fugitive Marc Rich, even though the Justice Department had not offered a formal recommendation.

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