Rep. Eliot Engel refuses to disclose the terms of the loan he secured from a top campaign contributor but insists the arrangement received approval from the House Ethics Committee.
The Bronx Democrat revealed the loan, valued at between $100,000 and $250,000, in his most recent financial disclosure report released last week.
A spokesman for Engel said that he secured the funds last year to help him purchase a co-op apartment in The Bronx.
“There is no actual mortgage on the property as this is a personal loan that has been approved by the Ethics Committee,” said Engel spokesman Joseph O’Brien.
House Ethics Committee officials said the panel can’t confirm or deny that Engel reached out to them because that falls under the area of protected information.
The Congressman has thus far refused to reveal any details of the loan, including the interest rate or repayment schedule.
While calling the arrangement potentially “problematic”, Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Reponsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, said that Engel did the proper thing by going to the ethics committee in advance for approval.
Engel has been friends with the lender, Harry Bajraktari, for more than 20 years.
“The Congressman decided to borrow money from a close friend, which is permissible under Congressional rules,” a second Engel staffer, Jeremy Tomasulo, said.
Bajraktari, who manages more than two dozen properties in New York, did not respond for a request for comment.
Bajraktari, his family and associates have contributed more than $70,000 to Engel’s campaign committee since 2005, making him one of the Engel’s biggest supporters.
And in 2008, over drinks, the pair decided to become business partners and bought a small apartment building in The Bronx.
However, the Congressman failed to disclose his 24% ownership stake, as required, on his financial disclosure form for two years.
He amended the earlier reports after the Daily News asked about the discrepancy.
Engel is the third member of of New York’s Congressional delegation to seek financial assistance from a friend and campaign contributor rather than a bank over the last several years.
Retiring Queens Democrat Gary Ackerman borrowed a total of at least $29,000 from a friend, Selig Zises, to purchase an interest in stock held by Zises on two different occasions, the first in 2002.
One of those loans remains outstanding.
And Gregory Meeks(D-Queens) borrowed $40,000 from a friend, Edul Ahmad, in 2007. Meeks remains under investigation by both the FBI and the House Ethics Committee.
Meeks has never been able to produce any documentation detailing the terms of the loan and Ackerman showed the Daily News a single page promissory note for his first loan from Zises indicating an interest rate of 6 percent but no repayment schedule.
blesse@nydailynews.com
