Harlem

Politics

Rangel Embroiled in Another Finance Scandal

By DNAinfo staff
August 8, 2010 10:50am | Updated August 8, 2010 9:45am
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., was charged with ethics violations by a House committee.
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AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

By Nina Mandell

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Charlie Rangel’s troubles keep growing.

The New York Post reports that the Harlem politician helped channel millions of dollars to a non-profit organization with questionable financing practices weeks before his indictment on ethics charges.

With Rangel’s help, the non-profit, Alianza Dominicana, was granted a $2.6 million grant in June to help build a new headquarters, according to the Post.

But the group already owed $526,000 in back wages to 200 workers, hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent and more money to the IRS, the Post reported.

Even one of its own executives refused to back the grant, and resigned because of concerns over the group's shoddy accounting practices, the Post said.

Alianza Dominicana Inc. is a non-profit community development organization that works with youth, families, and public and private institutions to revitalize economically distressed neighborhoods, according to its web site.

Meanwhile, Rangel reportedly told friends that he was ready to resign in a deal made with the House ethics committee, but Republicans nixed the agreement.

"He said he had signed an agreement. He was ready to go but I guess politics came into play," Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Manhattan) said at a Harlem meeting, according to the New York Daily News.


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