Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, amended five years of financial statements, revealing more than $500,000 in personal investments amid inquiries into his ethics.
The new Aug. 12 filings by Rangel show that the New York Democrat bought $250,000 to $500,000 of a Merrill Lynch Allianz portfolio fund, starting in September 2006, with the proceeds from selling a personal residence in Florida, as well as $1,000 to $15,000 in Yum! Brands Inc. shares the same year. He amended his filings covering 2004 through 2008.
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Rangel’s amended filings listed an individual retirement and checking account that ranged from $100,000 to $500,000 at the Congressional Federal Credit Union as well as Merrill Lynch cash accounts. He had reported such accounts in 2003. The amended filings also show he has owned vacant land assessed at $3,000 in Glassboro, N.J., since at least 2004.
Elbert Garcia, a Rangel aide, said in an e-mail Tuesday night that the amendments were filed after a “thorough review of his financial records.” Rangel “is confident that his records have been subjected to an exhaustive and complete review, and that the amendments accurately reflect his financial interests,” Garcia said.
Garcia said Rangel, 79, won’t comment until the ethics committee completes its investigation.
Early this year, House Democrats resisted attempts by Republicans to remove Rangel from the Ways and Means Committee chairmanship during the ethics probe.
The ethics panel is investigating whether Rangel inappropriately failed to disclose income from a rental villa in the Dominican Republic, used rent-controlled apartments in New York, and did a favor for a donor of $1 million to a school of public service in New York named after Rangel. The new filings say Rangel received $5,000 to $15,000 per year in rent from the villa since 2004.
Rangel has said he did nothing intentionally wrong. Garcia said he didn’t know whether Rangel was also amending his income tax returns for 2004 through 2007.
The congressman’s amended disclosure filings were reported earlier Tuesday by Congressional Quarterly.
