Rangel agrees to pay fine

[Tam]

Democratic New York congressman Charlie Rangel agreed to pay a $23,000 fine for using a rent-controlled apartment as a campaign office, according to the Hill:


The FEC had said that Rangel accepted an illegal campaign contribution by leasing the apartment from its owner at below-market rates, paying $630 per month in rent while other similar units in the building rented for more than $1,700 per month.

The unit was in the same building in which Rangel lived, and should not have been available for use as a political office under New York City laws that require rent-stabilized apartments to be used as a primary residence. …

The FEC also admonished Fourth Lenox Terrace Associates, the owners of Rangel's building, for making "excessive in-kind contributions" to Rangel's political operations by leasing the apartment at a discount.

The fine was the latest blow for Rangel, who lost his chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee after an Ethics Committee investigation found him guilty of 11 violations in 2010. The Ethics Committee admonished Rangel for improperly soliciting donations and failing to pay taxes on a rental villa in the Dominican Republic. Rangel also neglected to report hundreds of thousands of dollars on House financial disclosure forms.

 

[Steve]

Among other issues, Mr. Rangel is currently under investigation regarding his use of four rent-stabilized apartments at New York City's tony Lenox Terrace

rent control/stabilization was established to prevent an overheated real estate and rental market from displacing tenants....


an act overwhelmingly supported by liberals... yet Rangel uses one for an office.. and no liberals are upset at this outrage?

four families were effectively made homeless by Rangel..

the liberals often demand the 1% pay more taxes.. and anyone who is rich should "pay his fair share... yet Rangel and other rich liberals constantly avoid paying taxes through fraud deception and criminal acts.. only to get a small fine... and praise because they support more taxes...

WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles Rangel sent the IRS and New York state six checks totalling $10,800 to cover unpaid taxes from previously unreported income

Earlier this month the Chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee "amended" his 2007 financial disclosure form—to the tune of more than a half-million dollars in previously unreported assets and income. That number may be as high as $780,000, because Congress's ethics rules only require the Members to report their finances within broad ranges. This voyage of personal financial discovery brings Mr. Rangel's net worth for 2007 to somewhere between $1.028 million and $2.495 million, while his previous statement came in at $516,015 and $1.316 million.

The Harlem Dem now admits that he failed to disclose several million dollars in income and business deals during those years -- including up to $1 million from the sale of a building on 132nd Street.

How could that happen?

Charlie won't say.

Even stranger, city records show that Rangel still owns the building.

How can that be, if Rangel sold it, as he now claims? Maybe the records are wrong, but Charlie's not talking.

 

[Tam]

Nobody is to worry though as Rangel's spokeman said he paid the fines but he is not admitting to any wrong doing. He is still claiming his innocents. :roll: