Posted on 02/07/2013 5:14:03 AM PST by Liz
When he has his press conference, hopefully he’ll emulate Bud Dwyer............
Unsaid in all this is the fact that at least a good half of Dominicans living in the US are here illegally! (so, what else is new?)
Ut-oh ping
All three denied any record to support his credentials,sounds like he’s onto the Obama gig.
This turkey may have an optometrists degree and bought an ophthalmology degree from a diploma mill.
By Carli Teproff, Marc Caputo and Jay Weaver
Agents with the FBI and HHS continued their search Wednesday of a South Florida eye doctor who last year was accused of providing prostitutes to longtime ally Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat.
Stringing up crime scene tape and using a locksmith, the FBI on Tuesday and Wednesday raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor suspected of providing free trips and even underage Dominican Republic prostitutes to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez — who has denied what he calls the “fallacious allegations.”
Agents hauled away boxes and bags of evidence from the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, to start hauling away potential evidence in several vans.
On Wednesday, the FBI agents were joined by an inspector from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, indicating the search-and-seizure raid has ties to a possible $8 million Medicare fraud inquiry.
Amid the suspicious circumstances of the complaints, Democrats have tried to characterize the reports about Menendez and Melgen as a right-wing smear job.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid refused to comment on the possibility of an FBI investigation when he was asked Tuesday about the case.Said Reid: “Always consider the source. All anyone here has to look at is the source where this comes from.”
But the two-day raid of Menendez’s longtime friend shows that an investigation is ongoing. Just after 2:15 p.m. Wednesday FBI and HHS agents began hauling cardboard boxes out of Melgen’s West Palm Beach 45th Street eye-care center and loading them into a white utility van in front of the office. They were continuing the search that started Tuesday night.
Michael Leverock, spokesman for the FBI’s Miami office would not comment on what was being taken out of Vitreo-Retinal Consultants Eye Center or why the FBI was there.“We are conducting law enforcement action at this location,” said Leverock.
The FBI also searched the eye doctor’s other clinics, in Delray Beach and Port St. Lucie.
At the scene in West Palm Beach, agents, some from the Office of the Inspector General of the federal Health and Human Services department, formed a single-file line each holding at least one box and rotated back in to get more.As soon as the boxes were loaded, the glass double doors of the eye care center, which were propped open with red poinsettias, were closed. The van remained in front of the eye care center.
Earlier in the day, an agent went to his car to retrieve what looked like a crow bar.
Some time later a locksmith from Pop-A-Lock showed up and was escorted in by an agent /The locksmith came out once to get a drill.
One patient, Anthony Jordan, showed up for fis 2:30 pm appointment and was surprised to find crime scene tape at the clinic site. “I wasn’t sure if they called and cancelled,” he said. “Guess I am not having my appointment.”
The DR hasn’t had a dictator for more than 50 years. Compared to Mexico’s corruption, the DR is Switzerland.
NOT A RIGHT-WING SMEAR The info offered here comes from a “Dominican Republic travel brochure” right off the book shelf at a BnN bookstore-—advising travelers where to go, what to see, where to stay, and what to expect from the island nation-—including its recent political history.
You and the book area misinformed.
I repeat:
The DR hasn’t had a dictator for more than 50 years.
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The Menendez/Meglen friendship goes back to the 1990s, when MMenendez entered the House of Representatives in 1993. He began regularly visiting the Dominican Republic---and took refuge there when under press scrutiny here for a Hudson County rental deal gone sour. Menendez freely gave press interviews in Spanish until the furor died down stateside.
Dr. Melgen has a home in Casa de Campo, a gated oceanfront resort where houses cost as much as $20 million and which has been home to some of the country’s richest residents, like Oscar de la Renta. Both enjoyed a good cigar and playing golf; Casa de Campo has several places to play, designed by the renowned course architect Pete Dye.
Dr. Melgen itched to play power broker, and his wife began donating to Mr. Menendez’s Congressional campaigns in the late 1990s.....their contributions grew, along with their friendship.
By the time of the 2009-10 election cycle, when Mr. Menendez headed the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Dr. Melgen became an important fund-raiser for the effort. In May 2010, he flew the senator to the Dominican Republic on his private plane and held a fund-raiser at his posh home. He and his wife gave the committee $60,000 and helped raised even more.
Later that summer, Dr. Melgen also flew Mr. Menendez to the Dominican Republic for the two short personal vacations, in August and September. Aides said it was simply because of sloppy paperwork that the senator did not repay Dr. Melgen for plane trips that would have cost $6-7,000on commercial airlines. After reports surfaced, the senator recently sent Dr. Melgen’s company a check for $58,500.
Also in 2010, Dr. Melgen---witj no port experience--- bought ownership interest in ICSSI, a company based in the DR that had been awarded a govt contract to provide extensive screening of cargo from ports in the Dominican Republic.
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