New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, under fire for undisclosed loans from friends reportedly used to renovate his house, will now face an Office of Congressional Ethics investigation as well.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Meeks with the Office of Congressional Ethics today based on the NY Daily News reports that Meeks failed to disclose the personal loans and his participation on two non-profit boards.
CREW said in a statement:
Although Rep. Meeks now calls the money a loan, he received the funds without offering collateral, and without an interest rate, repayment plan, or due date. Rep. Meeks failed to make any payments on the loan for 3 years and failed to include it on either his 2007 or 2008 PFDs. He repaid the money, with 12.5% interest, only after the FBI questioned Mr. Ahmad about it, and Mr. Ahmad requested repayment. Rep. Meeks said his failure to report the loan was an “oversight.”
They also note that, in order to pay back the loans, Meeks had to take out a home equity loan from Four Investments, which has no other home equity loans outstanding in New York but whose owner is a Meeks donor.
CREW alleges that both loans violate House ethics rules, which do not permit members to accept loans that are not commercially available to others. Furthermore, they suggest that failing to report the first loan was a violation of federal law.
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