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OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Gregory Meeks

August 5, 2011
Investigations

OCE Referral Regarding Rep. Gregory Meeks

On May 18, 2011, the Office of Congressional Ethics transmitted a referral to the Committee on Ethics of the United States House of Representatives regarding Representative Gregory Meeks.

Nature of Review

In 2007, Representative Gregory Meeks received $40,000 from a personal freinds, Edul Ahmad. In 2010, Representative Meeks received a $59,650 home equity loan from Four M Investments, LLC.

If Representative Meeks accepted a home equity loan from an individual without prior approval from the Committee on Ethics (formerly Committee on Standards of Official Conduct) or from a commerical institution on terms not available to the general public, he may have violated House rules and standards of conduct.

During the course of its review, the Office of Congressional Ethics learned that the $40,000 Representative Meeks received from Edul Ahmad appeared to lack the normal indicia, including a set interest rate or repayment terms, of a legitimate loan. Therefore, this $40,000 transferred to Representative Meeks in 2007 appears to have been a gift. Representative meeks did not disclose the $40,000 amount as a gift on his Calendar Year 2007 United States House of Representatives Financial Disclosure Statement (filed in May 2008), his Calendar Year 2008 Amended Financial Disclosure Statement (filed in 2009), or his Calendar Year 2009 Amended Financial Disclosure Statement (filed in 2010).

If Representative Meeks failed to properly disclose the $40,000 as a gift on his Calendar Year 2007, 2008, and 2009 Financial Disclosure Statements, he may have violated House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.

OCE Recommendation

The Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Ethics further review the above allegations because there is a substantial reason to believe that Representative Meeks failed to properly disclose the $40,000 as a gift on his 2007, 2008, and 2009 Financial Disclosure Statements in violation of House rules, standards of conduct, and federal law.

Committee Conclusion

On August 5, 2011, the Committee on Ethics released a statement indicating it had accepted the recommendations of the OCE to dismiss allegations regarding the 2010 loan and further review the allegations regarding the 2007 loan. The Committee published the OCE report and findings and announced the allegations regarding the 2010 loan would be further reviewed pursuant to the Committee's Rule 18(a).

On December 20, 2012, the Committee on Ethics released a report finding Rep. Meeks had failed to disclose the Ahmad loan on his 2007, 2008, and 2009 Financial Disclosure Statements. The Committee found no credible evidence that the errors were knowing or willful. The Committee decided to close its investigation regarding this matter.