U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica) submitted changes Friday to his annual financial disclosure statements he is required to file with the clerk of the House of Representatives that showed he borrowed $55,000 in personal loans in 2007 and 2008.
It was unclear why it took Meeks so long to report the loans and the congressman could not be reached for comment.
In the letter Meeks filed with the clerk Friday, he said he received and repaid a $40,000 personal loan in 2007. He also said he took out a $15,000 personal loan “that is serviced monthly” in 2008.
Meeks did not say why he needed or how he used the money, but it was unclear whether he was required to disclose that information.
In the same letter, Meeks said he also failed to disclose that he was elected as a board member of the nonprofit United Black Men of Queens County and became a board member of the nonprofit National Endowment for Democracy, both in 2004.
Meeks submitted his original financial disclosure statement for 2009 June 15.
The document showed he received a personal loan of between $10,001 and $15,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union and another personal loan of between $50,001 and $100,000 from Edul N. Ahmad, an Ozone Park real estate developer, both in 2009.
Campaign finance records showed Ahmad contributed $1,000 to Meeks’ campaign in 1998.
Federal investigators are reportedly looking into a charity Meeks helped found called New Direction Local Development Corp., which was created to assist families impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
The nonprofit raised tens of thousands of dollars for the families yet only doled out a fraction of that amount.
— Howard Koplowitz
