Top Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu will rely on a court-appointed lawyer to defend him against charges that he cheated investors out of millions of dollars and made illegal donations to politicians, including Senator Clinton.

A U.S. magistrate judge, Theodore Katz, appointed Hugh Mundy yesterday to represent Mr. Hsu as the 56-year-old clothing-industry entrepreneur made his first appearance in the Manhattan court.

Mr. Hsu pleaded not guilty to charges that he violated federal campaign finance laws.

After the brief court appearance, Mr. Mundy told the Associated Press that his client had no choice but to rely on a court-appointed lawyer. “He’s essentially a man with no income or assets. He has no money he can tap,” Mr. Mundy said. “His money and assets are alleged to be involved in the charges. He has no access to the money presently.”

Mr. Mundy said it was his first day on the case and he did not know how much money was in his client’s bank accounts.

The government has said Mr. Hsu believed large campaign contributions would attract money to his financial scheme by raising his public profile. Toward that goal, prosecutors said, he pressured many fraud victims to contribute thousands of dollars to candidates.

According to the indictment, Mr. Hsu persuaded his victims to invest at least $60 million from 2000 through August 2007 in companies that supposedly extended short-term financing to businesses. It said he used the money instead to further his fraudulent goals. The government said he lost at least $20 million of the investor money.

Once a prized supporter of Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Hsu raised more than $1.2 million for her and other Democratic candidates in recent years.

Her campaign has since returned more than $800,000 to donors whose contributions were linked to him.