A stunning new investigative report alleges that Mitt Romney profited when a marketing company he invested in at Bain Capital was awarded a lucrative contract by the state of Massachusetts while Romney served as Governor.  Paul Ryan's brother Tobin was a senior executive at the company, Imagitas, when it received $5 million from Romney's Bain Capital.

The report found that "Both Mr Romney and Tobin Ryan ... also apparently stood to benefit from the $230 million ... sale of the [Ryan] company in 2005, while Mr. Romney remained in office" as Governor.

It appears that Romney did not divest himself of his financial interest in Ryan's company while that company was hired by the state, nor did he report the conflict of interest.

According to the Telegraph, such an infraction could have resulted in a $2,000 fine or a 2.5-year prison sentence at the time, though the potential punishments are now stronger.

The Romney-Ryan campaign and Bain Capital have declined to comment on whether Romney had indeed profited from the company, had been aware of the potential conflict of interest, or had taken any action to avoid one.