The state's Ethics Commission is looking into possible violations by a lobbyist, whose company allegedly lent state Representative Ron Sailor eighty thousand dollars last year. The loan wasn't disclosed until Monday night. Sailor, a Democrat from Decatur, accepted the loan in February of 2007 from a payday lending company owned by lobbyist Willie Green. The loan should have been reported the following month.
Rick Thompson, Executive Secretary for Georgia's Ethics Commission, says it wasn't: “An amended disclosure report by the lobbyist that was identified in the newspaper article has been submitted last night to identify a loan. So we'll look into it a little further, and see why it wasn't reported timely.”
Green's lawyer says the lobbyist did not realize that loans to public officials had to be disclosed until after reporters contacted him on Monday. Last year, Green was pushing for the passage of a payday lending bill that ultimately failed, and Sailor was one of a handful of Democrats who supported it. Sailor pleaded guilty in federal court last week to money laundering.
Rick Thompson, Executive Secretary for Georgia's Ethics Commission, says it wasn't: “An amended disclosure report by the lobbyist that was identified in the newspaper article has been submitted last night to identify a loan. So we'll look into it a little further, and see why it wasn't reported timely.”
Green's lawyer says the lobbyist did not realize that loans to public officials had to be disclosed until after reporters contacted him on Monday. Last year, Green was pushing for the passage of a payday lending bill that ultimately failed, and Sailor was one of a handful of Democrats who supported it. Sailor pleaded guilty in federal court last week to money laundering.
(Odette Yousef, WABE Atlanta)
