For years, Robert M. Feldman was something of a political kingmaker in Philadelphia. He raised well over $1 million for Democrats, dazzling veteran politicos with the ability to raise from $25,000 to $50,000 in a single day.

Feldman, 60, was the second most proficient fund-raiser for former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, and he became a leading force behind Sen. Bob Casey Jr.'s rise in Pennsylvania. He raised $230,000 for Gov. Rendell and $546,000 for Mayor John F. Street.

The bald and courtly insurance consultant was a dashing persona on the city's political scene. He wore fine suits, rode in a chauffeured Mercedes-Benz with his initials on the license plate, and convened meetings at a favored window table at the Four Seasons in Center City.

Feldman also mixed business with fund-raising. He earned $4 million from five donors who paid him to get them "in front of decisionmakers," he once testified in a civil lawsuit.

Feldman worked closely with Ronald A. White, the powerbroker who became a central figure in the City Hall corruption probe and whose phones and offices the FBI bugged. During one call, Feldman asked to be cut in on White's deal to redevelop Penn's Landing.

"I've got nothing," Feldman told White. "I've raised a ton of money for the mayor. . . . Maybe I should make this my 'big ask.' "

White and others, including former City Treasurer Corey Kemp, were indicted in the City Hall "bug" case; White died before trial. Feldman was not charged with any wrongdoing, but once his name surfaced in connection with that probe, his political star fell.

Feldman then became unwittingly ensnared in an offshoot investigation - the campaign-finance probe of Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, which resulted in charges against both men yesterday.

The nexus between the two men is Cándido Negrón Mella, a Delaware County dentist also charged in the case. Negrón knew Acevedo Vilá from a family connection and had aspirations to be a major fund-raiser like Feldman. In 2001, Negrón approached Feldman about Acevedo Vilá and the older man agreed to help.

Feldman eventually became Acevedo Vilá's campaign chairman in the continental United States, the indictment said. Negrón was the deputy.

In early 2002, while Acevedo Vilá was still Puerto Rico's nonvoting delegate to Congress, Feldman helped Negrón throw two Philadelphia fund-raisers, including one at the Four Seasons. Together, they raised about $50,000.

According to Feldman's lawyer, Henry Hockeimer, Feldman never saw Acevedo Vilá again, nor did he attempt to win any business in Puerto Rico.