Who is Salomon Melgen? Doctor is at center of Menendez corruption case


Their friendship began more than two decades ago.

Robert Menendez had recently been sworn in as New Jersey's first Hispanic congressman and was running for re-election when he met eye doctor Salomon Melgen at a Florida Fundraiser in 1993.

Since then, Melgen has become close friends with the Hudson County Democrat — who is now one of New Jersey's two U.S. senators — and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Menendez's various campaigns.

"The senator and I have become like brothers, like friends," Melgen said in a 2013 interview with Bloomberg News.

Now, their relationship is the subject of a federal corruption case. Menendez and Melgen, both 61, were indicted Wednesday on conspiracy, bribery, and fraud charges. Prosecutors allege that Menendez used his political influence to help Melgen's business dealings after accepting lavish gifts and large campaign donations from the doctor.

Most New Jerseyans likely never heard of Melgen until his relationship with Menendez, a Democrat, became the subject of allegations two years ago.

The 61-year-old Dominican Republican native has been a prominent ophthalmologist in south Florida for decades, and has also been a top donor to Democratic campaigns.
In all, Melgen and his family donated nearly $50,000 to Menendez's various campaigns and political committees. And in 2012, his business gave more than $700,000 to Majority PAC, a political action committee supporting Democratic candidates. The PAC spent more than $582,000 to help elect Menendez to a second full term in the Senate.

QUESTIONS ARISE

Their relationship began making news after the FBI raided Melgen's medical offices in Florida in 2013.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had reportedly found that Melgen over-billed the government by $8.9 million. Melgen's attorney, Kirk Ogrosky, told the Miami Herald last year that the doctor "billed in conformity with Medicare rules."

But Menendez has admitted that he intervened with federal health offices in an effort to ease the dispute. Meanwhile, the senator said he asked about a port-security contract in the Dominican Republic held by a company whose investors include Melgen.

The question is whether those actions were taken as part of Menendez's normal duties as a member of Congress, or whether they were political favors.

Hmmm, I smell a Mackerel here.