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NJ Senator Investigated For Alleged Ties to Fugitives From Ecuador

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Brothers William and Roberto Isaias are wanted men in Ecuador, where they were convicted of embezzling more than $660 million.
Brothers William and Roberto Isaias are wanted men in Ecuador, where they were convicted of embezzling more than $660 million.
New Jersey Democratic Senator Sen. Robert Menendez is the subject of a federal criminal investigation as a result of his alleged dealings with two Florida businessmen who are fugitives from Ecuador, according to WNBC.

According to a report by Jonathan Dienst at WNBC, released Thursday, January 23, the Justice Department is investigating the NJ senator’s ties to brothers William and Roberto Isaias. Both brothers are wanted in Ecuador, where they ran the country’s largest bank and were convicted of embezzling  more than $660 million during Ecuador’s banking crisis in 1999. The brothers are currently living in Coral Gables, Florida, according to the WNBC report.

At the center of the investigation is whether Menendez helped the brothers stay in the United States.

According to Dienst’s reporting, the brothers sought out the help of Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as they sought permanent residence in the U.S. Officials said Menendez wrote letters and made calls on behalf of the brothers, according to WNBC’s report.

The Huffington Post further reported that mattes will become worse for the senator if it turns out that he received campaign donations from the two fugitives in exchange for help.

According to the WNBC report, campaign donation records do indicate a connection to the Isaias brothers. From WNBC’s report:

“Reached by phone, Roberto Isaias told us that as a non-resident, he can’t make donations to a U.S. campaign and he does not have anything to do with any senator or politician. Federal election records show relatives of the Isaias brothers who are residents donated more than $10,000 to the senator’s 2012 campaign. And those records show Roberto Isaias’ family members also donated at least $100,000 to the Democratic Party in 2012.”

Menendez spokeswoman Tricia Enright refuted the report in a statement to The Huffington Post.

“A year after a false smear campaign was launched against Senator Menendez, once again we see anonymous sources making outlandish allegations,” Enright wrote. “Our office works each year with literally hundreds of individuals and families from across the country who are seeking help with the immigration process. We review each and every request we receive, and if we feel any inquiry is appropriate, we make it. In this particular case, Senator Menendez believed the Isaias family had been politically persecuted in Ecuador, including through the confiscation of media outlets they owned which were critical of the government. We are not aware of any inquiry into the Senator’s actions on this matter.”

As the Miami Herald reported in June, Ecuador has repeatedly asked the United States to extradite the Isaias brothers, to no avail. When Vice President Joe Biden called Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to ask him to deny an asylum plea from National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, Correa brought up the Isaias brothers’ case.

“[Biden] told me that Mr. Snowden was a fugitive of American justice and didn’t have a passport,” Correa said, according to the newspaper El Telegrafo. “I told him, ‘Well, the Isaiases are fugitives of Ecuadorian justice and they also don’t have passports and you won’t extradite them.'”

WNBC reported that charges have not yet been filed in the Menendez case. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department immediately returned The Huffington Post’s requests for comment.

Last year, The Washington Post reported that FBI investigators had traveled to the Dominican Republic as part of an investigation into Menendez’ relationship with friend and campaign donor Dr. Salomon Melgen. The Huffington Post reported that  no evidence was found to confirm allegations that Menendez had patronized prostitutes, as the Daily Caller had reported, but that his ties to Melgen drew further scrutiny, including a Senate Ethics Committee probe into his conduct.

Menendez vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“No one has bought me, No. 1,” Menendez said last spring. “No one, ever. In the 20 years I’ve been in Congress, never has it been suggested that that could even be possible. Never in 40 years of public life. So I’m not going to reach this moment in my life to make that a possibility.”

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