By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: Carlos Allen, identified in media reports as the third “party crasher”, who attended President Barack Obama’s state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is a self-described meeting planner, online magazine publisher and philanthropist.
He runs a social club out of a Washington brownstone in a residential neighbourhood and an online magazine that tracks social events around town, according to websites for his various business ventures.
His group of enterprises operates its own version of Facebook. All are billed under the name Hush, an acronym for Help Us Support Humanity, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
“Our aspiration is to draw from the elite and up & coming individuals, in order to mingle, make contacts, learn and have fun at the same time with the goal of supporting and creating strong community, local and national leaders,” Allen wrote on the magazine’s separate Facebook page.
The Indian Embassy Wednesday said it did not facilitate the entry of a third gatecrasher after the Secret Service claimed that the individual sneaked in by boarding an Indian delegation bus.
Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the Virginia couple made famous for slipping into the dinner without an invitation, appear to have social ties to Allen and his endeavours, the Times said.
Hush Society Magazine covered the Land Rover America’s Polo Cup, a charity polo match organised by the Salahis that is now under investigation by Virginia authorities for its accounting practices. India has also pulled out of this year’s edition of the Cup.
Sharmila Viswasam, public relations director for Hush Group Inc, attended the match at the invitation of the Salahis, though she does not know them personally, she told the Times Tuesday.
Michaele Salahi was photographed with Allen at a party apparently organised by Paul Gardner, the Baltimore entertainment lawyer who represented the Salahis when their White House exploits came to light.
Viswasam described Allen as well connected and well intentioned. “Carlos is a great guy. I believe in his vision. He is all about doing just what he says, giving back,” she said. “We party for a cause.”
Viswasam told the Times some of the money raised by Hush-sponsored parties goes to its own charity, the Most Valuable Pupil programme, which honours an exceptional student, according to the Hush website. Other fliers for Hush-sponsored parties don’t name specific charities that benefit from the events, the Times said.