New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez is under investigation for his connection to Ecuadorian bankers who allegedly stole millions in their home country and are living as fugitives in the US, according to a new report.
The Democratic senator is under federal criminal investigation for efforts he made to help brothers William and Roberto Isaias stay in Florida after they were sentenced in absentia in Ecuador for embezzling millions from the bank they ran, according to NBC news.
The Isaias brothers moved to the US in 2000 when the Ecuadorian government launched an investigation into their role in the collapse of Filanbanco, which cost the country’s taxpayers millions of dollars.
They now live comfortably in Coral Gables, Florida. The US has refused to extradite the bankers to Ecuador.
The Department of Justice is looking into whether Menendez acted improperly by intervening with Homeland Security and the State Department to help the duo, the report said.
A spokesperson for Menendez disputed the report, and compared it to story from last year that said Menendez had cavorted with an underage prostitute.
“We are not aware of any inquiry into the Senator’s actions on this matter,” Menendez’s spokesman Steven Sandberg said in a statement.
“A year after a false smear campaign was launched against Senator Menendez, once again we see anonymous sources making outlandish allegations,” he said.