CLEVELAND (AP) — The former top official for a northeast Ohio telemarketing millionaire charged with violating federal campaign finance laws testified Wednesday that he knew it was illegal to have the company reimburse people who had been asked to donate to two prominent Republican politicians.

Michael Giorgio, 62, testified in U.S. District Court in Cleveland in the trial of Ben Suarez, the founder of North Canton’s Suarez Corporation Industries and a longtime donor to Republican politicians and conservative causes.