Posted on 01/24/2008 5:30:19 PM PST by Nachum
All of a sudden, seems as if everybody's talking about Barack Obama and Tony Rezko. Even Jay Leno.
Rezko already was a big story in Chicago, accused of influence-peddling in the Blagojevich administration and set to face trial Feb. 25.
Having a hard time keeping track of the facts? Here are eight things to know:
1. They met in 1990. Obama was a student at Harvard Law School and got an unsolicited job offer from Rezko, then a low-income housing developer in Chicago. Obama turned it down.
2. Obama took a job in 1993 with a small Chicago law firm, Davis Miner Barnhill, that represents developers -- primarily not-for-profit groups -- building low-income housing with government funds.
3. One of the firm's not-for-profit clients -- the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama's then-boss Allison Davis -- was partners with Rezko's company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm. Only five hours of that came after Rezko and WPIC became partners, the firm says. The rest of the future senator's time was helping WPIC strike the deal with Rezko. Rezko's company, Rezmar Corp., also partnered with the firm's clients in four later deals -- none of which involved Obama, according to the firm. In each deal, Rezmar "made the decisions for the joint venture," says William Miceli, an attorney with the firm.
4. In 1995, Obama began campaigning for a seat in the Illinois Senate. Among his earliest supporters: Rezko. Two Rezko companies donated a total of $2,000. Obama was elected in 1996 -- representing a district that included 11 of Rezko's 30 low-income housing projects.
5. Rezko's low-income housing empire began crumbling in 2001, when his company stopped making mortgage payments on the old nursing home that had been converted into apartments. The state foreclosed on the building -- which was in Obama's Illinois Senate district.
6. In 2003, Obama announced he was running for the U.S. Senate, and Rezko -- a member of his campaign finance committee -- held a lavish fund-raiser June 27, 2003, at his Wilmette mansion.
7. A few months after Obama became a U.S. senator, he and Rezko's wife, Rita, bought adjacent pieces of property from a doctor in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood -- a deal that has dogged Obama the last two years. The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million -- $300,000 below the asking price. Rezko's wife paid full price -- $625,000 -- for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko's wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard. At the time, it had been widely reported that Tony Rezko was under federal investigation. Questioned later about the timing of the Rezko deal, Obama called it "boneheaded" because people might think the Rezkos had done him a favor.
8. Eight months later -- in October 2006 -- Rezko was indicted on charges he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business under his friend Gov. Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors maintain that $10,000 from the alleged kickback scheme was donated to Obama's run for the U.S. Senate. Obama has given the money to charity.
Rezko’s wife paid full price — $625,000 — for the adjacent vacant lot. The deals closed in June 2005. Six months later, Obama paid Rezko’s wife $104,500 for a strip of her land, so he could have a bigger yard
In the real world this is called bribery
“In the real world this is called bribery.”
I’ll admit I am a bit past my sell by date and so possibly confused, but after 31 years in the practice of law, I must be missing something here. How do you find bribery on the simple facts you laid out?
“The doctor sold the mansion to Obama for $1.65 million “
What a great country where a civil servant can afford a million dollar house!
All of a sudden?
As if, by coincidence, a news story beneficial to Hillary, whose Marxist tentacles run deeply through the entire media, just happens?
To me it’s immaterial whether Obama is a corrupt snake or a pillar of morality. He can’t run this country; he’s a liberal.
“What a great country where a civil servant can afford a million dollar house!”
Maybe Terry McCauliff fronted him the money, just like he fronted the Clintons the money to buy their house in Chappaqua.
She paid $625,000 for a piece of property, then sold it to Obama for $104,000 only six months later.
Unless something happened to significantly reduce the market value of that lot, in those six months, she gifted him with approximately $500,000 - and did it in a way so that looks as if it were designed to avoid reporting requirements.
I would like to get the deal he received but not being a senator I guess I wont. Why? What was given for this.
“She paid $625,000 for a piece of property, then sold it to Obama for $104,000 only six months later.”
The article says she sold him a “strip” of her property which would indicate to me that she sold less than the whole thing. Unless we know what “strip” she sold, its pretty hard to tell if Mrs. Rezko was bribing anyone, wouldn’t you say?
“I would like to get the deal he received but not being a senator I guess I wont. Why? What was given for this.”
What makes you think that he didn’t pay full price for what he got?
Nah we know better then that
“Nah we know better then that.”
You’re likely right about that, but I come from the “spoils” system of politics so it doesn’t bother me so much. In that system, the good luck or shrewd planning behind being in the right place at the right time is something to be admired unless its the hack from the other party who’s reaping that benefit, in which case its called corruption. But if the other side has half a brain, you never want to shout corruption unless you’ve got at least some facts to back it up, otherwise the claim won’t pass the milk through the nose test...even if its absolutely true.
10-4
Just a "strip"? One can subdivide lots in that neighborhood willy nilly, any 'ol which-a-way? What's really going on?
This "just a strip of land" portion of this story, looks to me to have a potential for blowing up, either way. If Obama is lying [or can be found to be feeding lies to the press] about this, the stink of it will help keep the rest of this albatross hanging around...
If it truly was only a "strip", then anyone wishing to attempt to use this as ammo for a talking point of criticism, should be careful it doesn't backfire.
That said, part of the backstory might lay in subdividing the lot(?), if that is what really occurred, instead of the "just a strip" element, being simply CYA from the Obama camp. Otherwise, I suppose it could be possible that there was more than one pre-existing neighboring lot, bought and controlled by Resko's wife? I don't know about Illinois, but where I live, altering land records post facto, could be pretty hard to do...older copies of records might surface, heheh...
I read mention of, in a previous article, that this adjacent lot, or land [so suspiciously bought in the same exact month as the Obama's bought the house next door] was "landlocked" with no right-of-way access to any of the surrounding streets.
Now, if the Obama's can prove that they traded, in part, previously unavailable access to this supposedly beleaguered lot, then they may be in the clear. Providing access to the neighboring lot though, would still beggar belief, since the Obamas have gone on record as saying they bought this neighboring land for "additional privacy". Ok, so forget that part...but what about...the rest of Resko's [ahem] "wife's" land there? What are these Reskos doing, buying and selling expensive properties, when they only recently had defaulted on mortgage payments for tax-payer subsidized land & housing, which was supposed to go to help 'the poor and dis-enfranchised' Obama is portraying himself to be such a big fat hero for???
Just what was what, in this *deal*? Any lurkers out there with more real info? Please chime in. This is so tangled, it's easy to get confused here. But then again, this type of crap seems to always be deliberately designed to be confusing. It helps the grifters [in this case, the Reskos, at least] cover their tracks...or try to B.S. their way out of it, once they get caught! Like the Clintons have done, so many times.
If Obama bought more than 1/6th of the property, then he paid less than the original price. Otherwise, I don’t see any big crime here, especially compared to the clinton’s 35-yr record of criminality.
petty change compared to Billary
How did Obama make his money? Is he a lawyer?
The strip of land sold to Ob(s)ama made the propery too small to develop. Basically Obama got the Rezko property for 1/6 the amount paid.
SSSSSHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
“The strip of land sold to Ob(s)ama made the propery too small to develop. Basically Obama got the Rezko property for 1/6 the amount paid.”
I take it the creation of non conforming lots in Obama’s fancy neighborhood is lawful? I’m surprised.
Obama bought his house for $1.65 million. I don't think that the chances of the place next door would be worth significantly less than a million are very high. Most neighborhoods, particularly rich ones, seem to have a tendency toward a bit more price consistency than that.
Do you think that there may be a lot more to this story than has been reported? I'd think so.
Obama bought a $1,650,000 Georgian revival mansion at a gigantic discounted price, some $300,000 less than the asking price. The same day, Rezko's wife bought the adjoining lot, paying the full $625,000 asking price.The Rezko lot wasn't accessible from the public street. However, it abuts Obama's property and provided a private preserve that adds to its ambience. Obama bought the Rezko property for $104,500 -- $520,500 less than Rezko's wife paid for it.
You may be convinced, but if he gets the nomination, how do you plan to convince 5 million voters that he is a corrupt incompetent snake with no experience who can’t be entrusted with POTUS? This corruption could be a key to his undoing.
karl, you manificent bastard, where are you?
Obama and his Rezko ties
DAY ONE OF TWO
April 23, 2007
BY TIM NOVAK Staff Reporter/tnovak@suntimes.com
For more than five weeks during the brutal winter of 1997, tenants shivered without heat in a government-subsidized apartment building on Chicago’s South Side.
It was just four years after the landlords — Antoin “Tony’’ Rezko and his partner Daniel Mahru — had rehabbed the 31-unit building in Englewood with a loan from Chicago taxpayers.
Rezko and Mahru couldn’t find money to get the heat back on
But their company, Rezmar Corp., did come up with $1,000 to give to the political campaign fund of Barack Obama, the newly elected state senator whose district included the unheated building.
Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years. Rezko has been a political patron to Obama and many others, helping to raise millions of dollars for them through his own contributions and by hosting fund-raisers in his home.
Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko’s low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems — including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers.
The building in Englewood was one of 30 Rezmar rehabbed in a series of troubled deals largely financed by taxpayers. Every project ran into financial difficulty. More than half went into foreclosure, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.
“Their buildings were falling apart,’’ said a former city official. “They just didn’t pay attention to the condition of these buildings.’’
Eleven of Rezko’s buildings were in Obama’s state Senate district.
Obama, now a U.S. senator running for president, has come under fire over his friendship with Rezko, who was charged last fall with demanding kickbacks on state business deals under Gov. Blagojevich.
Much of the criticism has centered on two real estate deals involving Obama’s South Side mansion. In the first, Obama paid $300,000 less than the asking price for a doctor’s home, while Rezko’s wife paid the doctor full price for the vacant lot next door. Then — a few months before Rezko was indicted — Obama bought part of that lot from Rezko’s wife.
But Obama’s ties with Rezko go beyond those two real estate sales and the political support, the Sun-Times found. Obama was an attorney with a small Chicago law firm — Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland — that helped Rezmar get more than $43 million in government funding to rehab 15 of their 30 apartment buildings for the poor.
Obama role unclear
Just what legal work — and how much — Obama did on those deals is unknown. His campaign staff acknowledges he worked on some of them. But the Rezmar-related work amounted to just five hours over the six years it said Obama was affiliated with the law firm, the staff said in an e-mail in February.
Obama, however, was associated with the firm for more than nine years, his staff acknowledged Sunday in an e-mail response to questions submitted March 14 by the Sun-Times. They didn’t say what deals he worked on — or how much work he did.
“The senator, relatively inexperienced in this kind of work, was assigned to tasks appropriate for a junior lawyer,’’ according to an e-mail from Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. “These tasks would have included reviewing documents, collecting corporate organizational documents, and drafting corporate resolutions.’’
In fact, Gibbs wrote, “Senator Obama does not remember having conversations with Tony Rezko about properties that he owned or any specific issues related to those properties.’’
Rezko and Mahru had no construction experience when they created Rezmar in 1989 to rehabilitate apartments for the poor under the Daley administration. Between 1989 and 1998, Rezmar made deals to rehab 30 buildings, a total of 1,025 apartments. The last 15 buildings involved Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland during Obama’s time with the firm.
Rezko and Mahru also managed the buildings, which were supposed to provide homes for poor people for 30 years. Every one of the projects ran into trouble:
• Seventeen buildings — many beset with code violations, including a lack of heat — ended up in foreclosure.
• Six buildings are currently boarded up.
• Hundreds of the apartments are vacant, in need of major repairs.
• Taxpayers have been stuck with millions in unpaid loans.
• At least a dozen times, the city of Chicago sued Rezmar for failure to heat buildings.
For five weeks, the Sun-Times sought to interview Obama about Rezko and the housing deals. His staff wanted written questions. It responded Sunday but left many questions unanswered. Other answers didn’t directly address the question.
Among these: When did Obama learn of Rezmar’s financial problems? “The senator had no special knowledge of any financial problems,’’ Gibbs wrote.
Did the senator ever complain to anyone — government officials, Rezmar or Rezko — about the conditions of Rezmar’s buildings? “Senator Obama did follow up on constituency complaints about housing as [a] matter of routine,’’ Gibbs wrote.
Did the senator ever discuss Rezmar’s financial problems with anyone at his law firm? “The firm advises us that it [is] unaware of any such conversations,’’ Gibbs wrote.
Turns down Rezmar job
Obama’s friendship with Rezko began with a telephone call.
It was 17 years ago. Obama had just become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Newspapers wrote about him. One story caught the eye of David Brint, a vice president of Rezmar, a new company that had become the Daley administration’s favored developer of low-income housing.
“I just cold-called him,” Brint said in an interview.
Brint said he wanted to know if Obama would come work for Rezmar, developing housing for the poor — something Obama had expressed interest in, according to the story Brint had read. Brint arranged for Obama to meet Rezko, but Obama didn’t take the job.
Obama, who has a law degree from Harvard, subsequently returned to Chicago to lead a voter-registration drive in 1992.
The next year, Obama joined Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, a 12-lawyer firm that specialized in helping develop low-income housing. The firm’s top partner, Allison S. Davis, was, and is, a member of the Chicago Plan Commission, appointed by Mayor Daley. Davis was also a friend of Rezko. Davis and Rezko would eventually go into business together, developing homes.
Another firm partner, Judson Miner, ran the city Law Department under Mayor Harold Washington, one of Obama’s political idols.
Asked what Rezko cases Obama worked on, Miner told the Sun-Times, “We’ll put together a list of the cases he worked on involving Rezko/Rezmar in the next day or two.’’
That was March 13. He never provided the information.
While at the law firm, Obama spent much of his time working on issues that would help improve conditions in poor neighborhoods, according to his first book, Dreams from My Father, published in 1996.
“In my legal practice, I work mostly with churches and community groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health clinics in the inner city, and housing for the poor,’’ Obama wrote in the book.
Three community groups represented by Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland were partners with Rezmar in the troubled housing deals.
Rezko offers Obama support
Obama had been at the firm for two years when he began his political career, running to replace state Sen. Alice Palmer.
Rezko became Obama’s political patron. Obama got his first campaign contributions on July 31, 1995: $300 from a Loop lawyer, a $5,000 loan from a car dealer, and $2,000 from two food companies owned by Rezko.
Around that time, Rezmar began developing low-income apartments in partnerships with the Chicago Urban League and two other not-for-profit community groups, both founded and run by Bishop Arthur Brazier, pastor of the Apostolic Church of God and a powerful ally of the mayor — the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., known as WPIC, and the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization.
All three community groups were clients of the Davis law firm. Davis himself was treasurer of WPIC when it went into business with Rezmar.
Why go into business with Rezmar? “We thought they were successful,’’ Davis said, noting that little development was taking place in Woodlawn.
At the time, Rezmar had been in business for six years and had become one of City Hall’s favored developers of low-income housing, managing 600 apartments in 15 buildings it rehabbed with government funding. Teaming now with community development groups, Rezmar rehabbed another 15 buildings, with 400 apartments, between 1995 and 1998. Each deal involved a mix of public and private financing — loans from the city or state, federal low-income-housing tax credits and bank loans.
By the time Rezmar started working with those community groups, at least two of its earlier buildings were falling into disrepair — including the Englewood apartment building at 7000 S. Sangamon where the tenants were without heat for five weeks.
The tenants there had no heat from Dec. 27, 1996, until at least Feb. 3, 1997, when the city of Chicago sued to turn the heat on. The case was settled later that month with a $100 fine.
It was during that time that the area’s new state senator, Barack Obama, got a $1,000 campaign donation from Rezmar. The date: Jan. 14, 1997.
Obama works on Rezmar deals
Obama spent the next eight years serving in the Illinois Senate and continued to work for the Davis law firm.
Through its partnerships, Rezmar remained a client of the firm, according to ethics statements Obama filed while a state senator.
Davis said he didn’t remember Obama working on the Rezmar projects.
“I don’t recall Barack having any involvement in real estate transactions,’’ Davis said. “Barack was a litigator. His area of focus was litigation, class-action suits.’’
But Obama did legal work on real estate deals while at Davis’ firm, according to biographical information he submitted to the Sun-Times in 1998. Obama specialized “in civil rights litigation, real estate financing, acquisition, construction and/or redevelopment of low-and moderate income housing,’’ according to his “biographical sketch.”
And he did legal work on Rezko’s deals, according to an e-mail his presidential campaign staff sent the Sun-Times on Feb. 16, in response to earlier inquiries. The staff didn’t specify which Rezmar projects Obama worked on, or his role. But it drew a distinction between working for Rezko and working on projects involving his company.
“Senator Obama did not directly represent Mr. Rezko or his firms. He did represent on a very limited basis ventures in which Mr. Rezko’s entities participated along with others,’’ according to the e-mail from Obama’s staff.
Obama buys Rezko land
Over the years, Rezko, Mahru, their wives and businesses have given more than $50,000 to Obama’s campaign funds, records show. And Rezko has helped raise millions more.
Rezko was among the people Obama appointed to serve on his U.S. Senate campaign finance committee, the Sun-Times reported in 2003. The committee raised more than $14 million, according to Federal Election Commission records, helping send Obama to Washington in 2004.
As a U.S. senator, Obama grew closer to Rezko.
Two years ago, Obama bought a mansion on the South Side, in the Kenwood neighborhood, from a doctor. On the same day, Rezko’s wife, Rita Rezko, bought the vacant lot next door from the same seller. The doctor had listed the properties for sale together. He sold the house to Obama for $300,000 below the asking price. The doctor got his asking price on the lot from Rezko’s wife.
Last year, Rita Rezko sold a strip of that vacant lot to Obama for $104,500 — a deal Obama later apologized for, acknowledging that people might think he got a favor from Rezko. Obama called the episode “boneheaded’’ and a “mistake.’’
At the time Obama bought that strip of land, it had been reported that Rezko was under federal investigation for influence-peddling involving the administration of Blagojevich, whose campaign also received Rezko’s financial support.
Rezko has since been indicted for allegedly demanding kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Blagojevich. Rezko’s trial has been postponed while investigators sort through his finances.
‘Disenchanted with Rezmar’
Rezmar’s final low-income housing deals involving the Davis law firm went bad quickly.
Those deals were supposed to provide affordable housing for at least 25 years. But the first deal Rezmar struck with the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp. collapsed in just six and a half years, when the state sued for foreclosure. WPIC and its sister agency, the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, ultimately forced Rezmar to give up control of all 12 buildings they rehabbed together, citing financial troubles and deteriorating conditions of the buildings.
The state foreclosure suit came because Rezmar had stopped making monthly mortgage payments in March 2001 on a state loan to help turn an old nursing home into low-income apartments at 6140 S. Drexel, in Obama’s state Senate district.
“WPIC became disenchanted with Rezmar and wanted to get rid of them,’’ Brazier said. “They thought the buildings weren’t being kept up properly. There were some financial problems.’’
Rezmar and WPIC cut all ties last October, when the Chicago City Council agreed to let Rezmar out of a city loan. Rezmar transferred its interest to The Wolcott Group, a management company run by business partners of David Brint — the man who had introduced Rezko to Obama.
Contributing: Chris Fusco and Art Golab
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article
Obama bought a strip of land which constituted 1/6 of the Rezko property for 104,500, which is 1/6 of the purchase price for the entire lot. There are many other details in this article.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/124171,CST-NWS-obama05.article
Unless there are more facts that have not been presented (my guess), nothing in this article presents a legal problem. Until the rest of the story comes out, there is nothing to get worked up over.
Yes I think he is a lawyer, but i thought he got most of his money from book sales. One of the books he wrote was a bestseller. I remember reading that he was totally broke 8 years ago, so most of his money is pretty recent.
Yes I think he is a lawyer, but i thought he got most of his money from book sales. One of the books he wrote was a bestseller. I remember reading that he was totally broke 8 years ago, so most of his money is pretty recent.
Sorry for the double post.
I agree. If he paid 1/6 of the price for 1/6 of the lot, everything would seem to be above-board. I do have to wonder, though, what the Rezko's planned to do with 5/6 of a lot with, purportedly, no access to the street.
Building Obama’s Money Machine:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070412obama-money,1,6037417.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Dims will stand by rapists, frauds, liars, cheats, and idiots. I'm pretty sure the only way to turn them off a candidate is to catch him on camera eating a spotted owl.
Some have gone so far as to call Resko relationship with Obama in regards to the land/house purchase, as being a financial beard. Which makes me wonder if Obamas tax returns would reflect the ability to afford a house, in excess of a million bucks, then be able to turn right around and spend another hundred thou, the very next year?
It's not just Obama that makes me wonder, and makes me think that he should be investigated about the sudden appearances of big money, but the whole damned lot of the political class, with all their various shenanigans.
If Randall (Duke) Cunningham can be run out of office for lesser than $100,000 sums, why do so many of the rest of 'em, get away with having many more times that flow through their hands? Just a rhetorical question...there's no need for you to feel obliged to provide an answer for it. I think we all know the various reasons.
Appears the mr. rezko is syrian by birth. Would seem just a coincidence, if these muslim connections of barack hussein didn’t keep popping up like prairie dogs.
1) The real estate market underwent a drastic depreciation in Obama's swank neighborhood ( No, I checked.)
2) Obama allowed his friend to influence his work as a legislator specifically for his friend, instead of the entirety of the people who voted for Obama.In other words Obama did quid pro quo legislative/regulatory favors for his college friend.
That is hardly what you would say is "any big crime." Its a violation of his oath of office, and likely could be proven a crime, if we could have taped a few conversations between Obama and his buddy.
#2 is a reason why he should not be president of the United States. He already has shown a disposition to not represent all Americans, only a favorite or two for his own personal ends. Dems get to do that.Republicans do not?
People like Tom DeLay do not because they are effective Republican adversaries to the Dems. Nice double standard.
Obama's shady dealings should be lauded loudly and clearly. Megaphones in the streets.
Not to mention the slim shady that Obama pulled in Kenya, a ghastly thing for a sitting US Senator to do, interfering as a neocolonialist in the internal affairs of another nation by campaigning for local politicians, charging the government with corruption without bringing forward evidence to support his allegations , Odinga AND Wali/Abdi. Pure fascist comedy if it wasn't for the murder, rape, pillaging and maiming that ocurred as a direct result of Obama's support of Odinga.
What would the Dems get up to if Tony Blair, while still prime minister of Britain showed up in 2004 on the Florida hustings campaigning for Dubyah? Maybe that will lend a little perspective to what Obama did in Kenya. It may have been a crime, given the murder and mayhem that followed.
Obama, the real slim shady. "Hope and Change". What a laugh.
And no ones talking about it much, yet.
But they will. Count on it.
The story is Obama was taking care of the landscaping of the Rezko lot. Plus the lot Rezko bought is unbuildable, so what was the savy Rezko going to do with the lot? Also, I believe I read somewhere it wasn’t orignally split into two lots, but Obama couldn’t afford the full 2,600,000 asking price, so the owner split the lot dropped the price 300,000, and Obama got the discount, while Rezko paid full price for the useless lot.
Born in Aleppo, Syria. Rezko moved to Chicago after graduating from high school.
several years ago, Rezko’s generosity began to appear on campaign disclosure forms for prominent politicians in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois.
Today, those ties have made him the focus of an intense investigation surrounding allegations he profited from political favoritism and is involved in an abuse of set-aside programs that give minorities a preference in winning state, county and city contracts.
http://www.hanania.com/profiles/Rezko06-08-05.htm
one of Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s closest advisers and the chief fundraiser on his two campaigns, was indicted Thursday on tax fraud charges alleging he improperly used corporate funds to cover gambling debts he had run up in Las Vegas and with a local bookie.
The indictment was another federal shot at the inner circle of the governor, coming on a day when more fraud counts were added to an indictment against former Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
A Rezko associate, Abdelhamid Chaib, was also named in the indictment for the first time.
This is an old story it happened several years ago and had been vetted by the Illinois press. This guy gave to every Illinois politian including the Govenor. Given Hillary’s past and her brother and Bills Brother and both of their campaign contributers and Watergate, and travelgate, and filegate, and running from the whitehouse with the gifts and silverware, I can hardly figure out why this story has legs. Is it because people are just tired of writing about Hillary.
Clout-heavy restaurant firms didn't pay property taxes: suit
By Steve Patterson & Chris Fusco, Staff Reporters
Restaurant companies linked to political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko that shut down three eateries at O'Hare Airport after being accused of minority-business fraud now have another problem: A lawsuit alleges they didn't pay their property taxes.
Crucial Inc. and the Panda Express restaurant chain allegedly owe $216,884 for back taxes and other fees to Host International Inc., which runs concessions for Chicago's airports. Host's lawsuit claims Host picked up the six-figure tab for Crucial and Panda and is now owed the sum by the two firms and their insurer, Washington International of Itasca.
The total owed to Host includes tax bills going back nearly three years, as well as costs that Host bore to remove signs and other "miscellaneous equipment" from three Panda Express storefronts at O'Hare.
O'Hare sites closed last year
City officials last year alleged Crucial was a phony minority "front" for Panda and Rezko, a top fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich and other politicians. Crucial, which had an operating agreement with Panda, won the O'Hare concessions in part because it was certified as a minority-owned business. Crucial's largest shareholder was listed as Jabir Herbert Muhammad, son of late Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad. Rezko's ownership stake was smaller.
from your link. Regular nest of (arab)vipers you've uncovered!
Concerning the vacant lot, if memory serves...someone else may have bought that parcel from the Rezko's, since?
Hmmm, iffin that may have occured, it would be yet another little detail to put under the magnifying glass.
The ink-stained wretches [newsmen/journalists] ought to get off their butts and dig into this pile of muck. I mean, that's the reason why they wanted to become ink-stained wretches in the first place, 'aint it?
To expose misdeeds and doings of those in gubermint...to strike a blow for peace, justice, freedom...well, we're waiting...where the hell are they?
Obama is a lawyer and his wife is in a high income bracket as well.
It is good that we are helping each other.
" Jabir Herbert Muhammad, son of late Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad..."
. ------------------------------------------
The Clinton secret police must have lots more stuff in their files .
And friends to hype them at the proper time :
The Trib Plays Gotcha With Obama
.
thanks george76.
Black America Feels the Sting of Ex-President’s Comments ( Bill Clinton )
Washington Post | January 25, 2008 | Darryl Fears
Posted on 01/25/2008 1:14:55 AM EST by george76
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1959299/posts
The indicted political fundraiser and Arab-American activist Tony Rezko befriended Obama during his Harvard days.
I believe I read he is Christian - - coming from Syria, this is not unusual.
I don’t know anything about this man’s politics, so I’m not accusing him of anything. However, let it be known that nearly all Christians I’ve met in the Middle East were just as America-hating & Jew-hating as everyone else.
This is child’s play compared to Whitewater, Cattle-gate, Travel-gate, File-gate, ChiCom Military campaign contributions, Bimbo Eruption Squad, VRWC being blamed for infidelity, using the State and Commerce Departments for fundraising scams, well....the list goes on. The Clintons are RICO-grade grifters and Obama is a lightweight.
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