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The Nation : Deal Reportedly Cost Wright $100,000

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House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) borrowed $100,000 to invest in a Texas nursing home company in 1983 and lost the money when the company went bankrupt two years later, published reports said. Wright had received dividends on his investment in Jewell Enterprises Inc., although most other investors did not, the Boston Globe and the New York Times said. The Globe said Wright borrowed all the money for his stock and used the stock as collateral. T. R. Jewell, president of the firm, was also a director at the bank that lent the money, the Globe said. The bankruptcy made the stock worthless, but the loan and some dividends had to be repaid, the reports said. Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee chairman said Wright’s disciplinary hearing on ethics charges will probably begin this month.

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