Paul Pelosi, husband of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, will reportedly make millions of dollars from a previously undisclosed real estate venture in Mrs. Pelosi's home state of California. Mr. Pelosi is a real estate developer and an investment banker and entered into this project with the father of the current Ambassador to Hungary, as reported by The Washington Times earlier this week. Mrs. Pelosi helped the ambassador secure her the post.
Angelo Tsakopoulos, a longtime associate of Mr. Pelosi put together the deal that involves Russell Ranch, a residential real estate project. Mr. Pelosi's investment has been reported to be worth $5 million and maybe as high as $25 million. He claims to have invested between $1 and $5 million in Russell Ranch about a dozen years ago.
It is important to note that Mrs. Pelosi did not list the investment on her federal disclosure forms until 2010, long after the initial investment was made. Her office claims that the investment was held in the name of an additional company owned by her husband. That company is a subchapter S corporation and shareholders pay its taxes-not the corporation. The U.S. House of Representatives does not require disclosures for subchapter S corporations.
When questioned by The Washington Times about why the project was now listed, her office noted "clarity and transparency purposes". Her office also stated that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that there was any attempt to hide the asset. However, others disagree.
NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm stated, "this is exactly what it looks like: Pelosi filing false financial disclosure reports to hide her family's financial ties to a wealthy real estate developer. The fact that Pelosi then did favors for her family's wealthy cronies just confirms the corrupt nature of the relationship."
In 2009, Mr. Tsakopoulous' daughter, Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis,was appointed as Ambassador to Hungary. Mrs. Pelosi (then Speaker of the House) spoke on behalf of Mrs. Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis at her Senate hearing in 2009. Then Speaker Pelosi never made reference to the multi-million dollar ties the families have together.
