Ethics Questions Still Hounding Rangel

The Washington Post ^ | 12/ 2/2008 | Derek Kravitz

[george76]

A steady stream of revelations about erroneous financial records and questionable ethics dating back to July has put the spotlight once again on New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel, prompting observers to wonder aloud whether it's time for Rangel to step down from his committee chairmanship.

The Democratic chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee has been at the center of a seemingly endless swirl of questions about his activities. He came under fire this week after The New York Times reported that Rangel worked to protect a tax shelter for Nabors Industries, an oil company whose chief executive was pledging $1 million to a school bearing the congressman's name.

The executive, Eugene M. Isenberg, also personally pledged $200,000 to the City College of New York, where the public policy school is named for Rangel. Last year, the company won congressional approval to preserve its tax shelter in the Caribbean, saving Nabors tens of millions of dollars annually and depriving the federal treasury of $1.1 billion in revenues

[Pining_4_TX]

Eek! I haven’t seen anything that scary since Halloween.

[Liz]

retsignman photoshop

REID: "Those guys better remember who kept them out of prison, Nancy"

PELOSI " Harry, I hope your earmark is big enough so that poor
Charlie won't have to use his own money to pay his taxes."

REID "Don't worry Nancy, it's big enough. And with the rest, we can all buy
a villa in the Dominican Republic, next door to Charlie......thanks to US taxpayers."

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Rangel’s pricey real estate deals AND his financial connections to several tax-exempt entities are a huge red flag.

The IRS says the biggest potential for IRS fraud are tax-exempt non-profits doing deals with other tax-exempt non-profits----all posing as do-gooder "foundations" and “charities.” The NY Post reports at least three tax-exempt entities connected to Rangel‘s finances:

(1) The Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service (Rangel co-opted $2 million via Capitol Hill allocations, plus another $700,000 from Dept of HUD),

(2) The NY Carib News Foundation (organized financing for Rangel’s island-hopping luxe Caribbean trips),

(3) The Ann S. Kheel Charitable Trust---aids disadvantaged neighborhoods (gave $440,000 to The Charles B. Rangel Center) the largest single donation in the charity's 4-year history. Theodore Kheel, Esq, VP of Grupo Punta Cana Operating Company, (mortgage holder on Rangel’s luxury villa), donated $17,000 to Rangel's congressional campaigns and $52,000 to a Rangel-run political action committee since 1990, federal filings show. (Ann Kheel is his late wife).

The "tax-exempt Carib News Foundation" subsidized Rangel’s trips to luxury island resorts---perfect places to hide money from the taxman.

The published list of known money-laundering havens includes Panama, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, the Cook Islands, Dominica, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Panama, the Philippines, St. Kitts, Israel, and the Grenadines. Suspected tax havens include Cyprus, Gibraltar, Monaco, and Antigua.

Suspected tax fraud and tax law violations can be reported to IRS TOLL-FREE 1-800-829-0433 (You may remain anonymous).