Frank Guinta’s Mystery Bank Account

Last month, James Pindell raised questions about 1st District Congressional candidate Frank Guinta’s personal finances, specifically how he came up with $245,000 to loan to his campaign:

OK, seriously now, how was Frank Guinta able to loan his Congressional campaign $245,000 to date? Where did this money come from and how much more of it is there? Look at his personal financial disclosure form when he entered the race in May 2009 and you’ll see that he had between $106,000 to $400,000 in investments and some money in property. In June 2009 he reported loaning the campaign $20,000. But here is the thing: if he liquidated some of that investment money, wouldn’t it have shown up on his year end personal disclosure form? It didn’t. The other $225,000 in loans came this year, but Guinta is late on filing an updated disclosure form (that was due in May.) Everything could very well be on the up and up, but if anything Guinta, like most candidates and required by law, needs to fill out an updated Form B personal disclosure form.

Sam Stein, writing in the Huffington Post today, reports that Guinta filed an updated financial disclosure form revealing a previously unreported personal bank account that was an inadvertent oversight. 

On Thursday, former Manchester mayor Frank Guinta filed financial disclosure forms revealing a previously unreported personal bank account with $250,000 and $500,000 in assets. Coming shortly after Guinta loaned his campaign $245,000, the funds raised the eyebrows of Granite State political observers. Where, exactly, was the money coming from and why had the GOP congressional candidate not disclosed it on his previous two forms?

In an interview with the Manchester Union Leader, Guinta denied that he received any loan (which would have potentially violated campaign finance laws) and insisted that earlier disclosure omissions were “an inadvertent oversight.”

More to come, no doubt.