http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-wellersep07,1,83079.story?track=rss
Weller, a southwest suburban congressman with a fondness for Latin America, has
sunk a large share of his investment capital into a land development in
Nicaragua . But he didn't declare the extent of his holdings on his required
congressional disclosures, and he indicated dramatically different purchase
prices for the land in American and Nicaraguan
records.
…
What he didn't say was that, while he
publicly pushed CAFTA, Weller privately was pursuing his land development, some
2,000 miles away. The House approved the trade pact in July 2005 by only two
votes, 217-215.Besides not mentioning his Nicaraguan investments during the
CAFTA debate on the House floor, Weller did not give anywhere close to a
complete accounting of them in his required 2005 financial disclosure statement.
House ethics rules require representatives to disclose all property they own
except for their personal residences.
…
The
congressman listed only one Nicaraguan property purchase on his 2005 disclosure
form, but property records in Nicaragua show that he bought or sold at least
eight pieces of land.
…
For example, Weller's first disclosed
purchase in the coastal town of San Juan del Sur appeared on his 2002 financial
filing, listing a lot with a purchase price of between $50,001 and $100,000. But
in property records at the Registrar's office in Rivas, the department seat for
San Juan , Weller is reported paying 78,000 cordobas, or about $4,333, for
four-tenths of an acre in a transaction on Dec. 7, 2002.Records indicate that
Weller sold the same property in February 2005 for about $95,000. That sale does
not appear on Weller's 2005 House disclosure.
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