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Toledo
Blade...
Financial
disclosure to be filed by
Mandel
Form expected in Oct.; it was due May
15
Tom Troy
September
26, 2011
State
Treasurer Josh Mandel’s campaign
said Friday it expects to file sometime in October a federal personal
financial
disclosure form that was due May 15.
Mr.
Mandel of Lyndhurst, Ohio, is
running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Mandel
campaign spokesman Joe Aquilino
said there are certain spousal assets that are required to be listed on
the
federal report that were never required on the state report.
“Our
staff is working with the Senate
compliance staff to determine which of those spousal assets must be
filed and
in what format,” Mr. Aquilino said. “Our staff has been working with
their
staff since the spring, and they’ve been very cooperative and helpful
as we
work to compile a full and accurate report.
“Hopefully
we will have the process
completed and the report filed sometime next month. Filing a full and
accurate
report is what’s most important to us,” he added.
The
committee can grant extensions of
time up to 90 days, but Mr. Mandel has not asked for one. Filing a late
disclosure without an extension is punishable by a $200 fine, which can
be
repeated. A committee spokesman declined to comment.
Mr.
Brown filed his disclosure May 15.
Ohio
Democratic Party spokesman Justin
Barasky blasted Mr. Mandel’s continued noncompliance. “The fact is that
for
about 130 days, Josh Mandel has refused to disclose his personal
finances. The
lack of transparency Ohioans are seeing from our absentee treasurer is
completely unacceptable. Josh Mandel is in violation of the law,” he
said.
Mr.
Mandel’s wife, Ilana Shafran
Mandel, is the daughter of Joseph Shafran, a first cousin of Albert B.
Ratner,
former head of Forest City Enterprises, according to the Columbus
Dispatch. Mr.
Shafran is also chairman and chief executive officer of Paran
Management Co., a
firm that develops and manages shopping centers and other property. The
Dispatch reported that the Mandels were married on Aug. 28, 2008, in
Jerusalem.
Meanwhile,
the Mandel team has sought
to link Mr. Brown with solar panel manufacturer Solyndra LLC, which
recently
entered bankruptcy after getting a $528 million federal loan under the
2009
economic stimulus law.
The
campaign said Mr. Brown, who
supported the stimulus program, received a campaign contribution of
$2,500 from
Solyndra board member Thomas Baruch in March, 2011, after the Office of
Management & Budget warned of Solyndra’s potential default.
Earlier this
month the FBI searched Solyndra’s California headquarters.
“It’s
obvious that Sherrod Brown paved
the way for this company to receive these tax dollars, and then he
looked the
other way when the Office of Management and Budget warned of their
default,”
Mr. Aquilino said. He asked if Mr. Brown would return the contribution.
Mr.
Brown’s Senate office referred
questions to Mr. Barasky.
“That
guy [Baruch] was on the board of
directors. He was not an employee who worked for the company. This
Solyndra
thing is a desperate and pathetic attack by Josh Mandel to distract
from the
fact that he’s being bombarded with negative headlines for his numerous
ethical
violations,” Mr. Barasky said.
Read
it at the Toledo Blade
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