CHICAGO: CRIME KIND OF TOWN

GOt it!

from:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2363103/posts

Acorn’s Ally at the NLRB Obama appoints an SEIU man with ties to Blago
The Wall Street Journal ^ | October 15, 2009

Posted on Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:55:30 AM by khnyny

One of Big Labor’s priorities in Washington is to place allies in key government jobs where they can overturn existing labor policy without battles in Congress. This is a very good reason for the Senate to hold a hearing on the nomination of Craig Becker to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Mr. Becker is associate general counsel at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is most recently in the news for its close ties to Acorn, the disgraced housing shakedown operation. President Obama nominated Mr. Becker in April to the five-member NLRB, which has the critical job of supervising union elections, investigating labor practices, and interpreting the National Labor Relations Act. In a 1993 Minnesota Law Review article, written when he was a UCLA professor, Mr. Becker argued for rewriting current union-election rules in favor of labor. And he suggested the NLRB could do this by regulatory fiat, without a vote of Congress.

Yet now that he could soon have the power to act on this conviction, Mr. Becker won’t tell Congress if this is what he still believes. In written responses to questions from Republican Orrin Hatch, Mr. Becker promised only to “maintain an open mind about whether [his] suggestions should be implemented in any manner.” That sounds like his mind is made up but he won’t admit it lest it hurt his confirmation.

Mr. Becker also won’t give a clear answer about his role in preparing several pro-labor executive orders issued by President Obama shortly after inauguration. Mr. Becker’s name was found in at least one of the documents, suggesting that he had written it.

When asked by Sen. Hatch if he was “involved or responsible in any way” for these executive orders, Mr. Becker responded:

Another close aide turns on Blagojevich (Lon Monk)

from:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367182/posts

Posted on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 10:12:17 PM by STARWISE

Even before he was elected governor in 2002, Rod Blagojevich and three of his closest friends schemed about ways to enrich themselves by controlling state government, the former governor’s former chief of staff alleged as part of a plea agreement today with federal prosecutors.

When Blagojevich took office, his three friends became key players in his administration and met repeatedly with the governor to share moneymaking ideas and get updates on their plans to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could split up later, former top aide Alonzo “Lon” Monk alleged.

Monk, who also was a groomsman at Blagojevich’s wedding and twice his campaign manager, pleaded guilty in the sweeping corruption case and agreed to testify against the former governor in exchange for a recommended sentence of two years in prison.

The picture Monk gave prosecutors is in sharp contrast to the image Blagojevich has been trying to present since his Dec. 9 arrest. Portraying himself as the victim of overzealous prosecutors, Blagojevich has crisscrossed the nation touting his book about the ordeal, watched his wife on a reality TV show and agreed to be on one himself.

Pulling back the curtain on how Blagojevich and his cohorts allegedly went about their plan, Monk’s plea suggests a possible pattern of political crimes that took place well before Blagojevich allegedly offered the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

As part of his deal, Monk told prosecutors that he, Blagojevich and key fundraisers Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Christopher Kelly repeatedly met about how the four of them could secretly make money through state deals, offering the most specific account yet of how the alleged conspiracy in the case formed.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagobreakingnews.com ...

Chicago...the town of big shoulders and Big Crime!!!

One-degree of separation: The “Nadhmi Auchi Scrub Gallery” grows ... again - April 22, 2008

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2395729/posts

The Nadhmi Auchi webscrubbing continues. Martin Bright of The New Statesman reported April 22, 2008,
that the UK’s Guardian/Observer “has been forced to pull down five articles about Nadhmi Auchi,
the Iraqi businessman convicted of fraud in France in 2003.

Auchi has been on the warpath since his name was connected with Tony Rezko, the Illinois fundraiser currently
on trial in America, who was one of Barack Obama’s earliest backers. In the UK, The
Times has been pursuing the story with impressive tenacity.”

*snip*

Here is list of the articles. Bright plans to post links from elsewhere on the internet, so
check back to the original article link.

# 1. “Labour blocks extradition of Iraqi tycoon”, Observer, February 2, 2003

# 2. “Billionaire linked to Labour arrested in London”, Guardian, April 2, 2003

# 3. “So, Norman, any regrets this time?”, Observer, April 6, 2003

# 4. “Tycoon in quiz over ties to Labour”, Observer, April 6, 2003

# 5. “Politics of sleaze”, Observer, November 16, 2003 # 6. “MP questions Iraq role of Briton tainted over Elf”
(this has also been titled “British fraudster to profit from Iraq contract”), Observer, November 16, 2003

~~~~~~~~

Obama surfaces in Rekzo’s federal corruption case -
Source confirmed Obama is the unnamed “political candidate”
referred to in document which outlines case against Rezko

###

For the first time, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has surfaced in the federal
corrupton case against his longtime campaign fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The Illinois senator isn’t accused of any wrongdoing. And there’s no evidence Obama knew contributions
to his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign came from schemes Rezko is accused of orchestrating.

The allegations against Rezko that involve Obama are contained in one paragraph of a
78-page document filed last month in which prosecutors outline their corruption and fraud case against Rezko,
who was also a key money man for Gov. Blagojevich and other politicians.

Rezko is set to go to trial Feb. 25. The revelation that Obama’s name could come up in court is a
political headache he doesn’t need as he heads into a round of primaries that are likely to determine his
party’s nomination for president.

Obama is not named in the Dec. 21 court document. But a source familiar with the case
confirmed that Obama is the unnamed “political candidate” referred to in a section of the
document that accuses Rezko of orchestrating a scheme in which a firm hired to handle
state teacher pension investments first had to pay $250,000 in “sham” finder’s fees.

From that money, $10,000 was donated to Obama’s successful run for the Senate in the name of
a Rezko business associate, according to the court filing and the source.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Guardian, Observer agree to remove defamatory articles on British tycoon

British sister publications agree to withdraw inaccurate reports on Nadhmi Auchi.

LONDON – British sister newspapers The Guardian and The Observer have agreed to delete six articles
on British tycoon Nadhmi Auchi from their Web content and databases as
part of a settlement in a defamation case.

The British papers also pledged to contact Web search engines to inform them of the
articles’ removal.

~~~~~~~~~~

Follow the Money: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Part 2

Based on testimony given March 20, 2008, by star witness Stuart Levine in the federal fraud trial
of indicted political fixer Antoin “Tony” Rezko, RezkoWatch expanded on the possible guest list for
the April 3, 2004, dinner at Chicago’s Four Seasons hotel arranged by Rezko on behalf of Iraqi-British
billionaire businessman Nadhmi Auchi.

Based on this new information, the guest list includes, of course, the guest of honor, Nadhmi Auchi
(left in photo), and the host, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (center in photo), as well as the following:

# Aiham Alsammarae (convicted of major theft-Iraq)
# Christopher Kelly (recent suicide0
# Jack Lavin (now top aide to Gov. Quinn)
# Stuart Levine (jail)
# Pat Quinn, Lt. Gov. of Illinois (Gov. of IL) # Rita Rezko
# Tony Rezko (jail)
# Michael Rumman

(Related: Who is protecting Aiham Alsammarae and why?”

RezkoWatch, Illinois blogger Bill Baar, 77WABC Radio’s John Batchelor, OpEd News contributor Evelyn Pringle, Pundita,
World Net Daily’s Aaron Klein, and a number of others would like to know why it is
that Chicago’s own resident international fugitive and former Iraqi minister of electricity, Aiham Alsammarae,
convicted by the Iraqi government in October 2006 for the theft of $650 million of Iraqi reconstruction funds,
U.S. tax dollars, that is, and wanted by Interpol as recently as April 26, 2008, is not
in jail—or at least answering questions.

Who is protecting Alsammarae and why?

Baar pointed out that Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) had written
a letter to the U.S. Treasury addressing concerns about corruption in Iraq and the very real
possibility that unknown amounts of U.S. taxpayer dollars destined for reconstruction in Iraq may have wound up in
the hands of the same militias in Iraq that our troops are having to engage in combat.
“All it takes is a hearing Senators,” Baar commented.

Who is protecting Alsammarae and why?

In the comments to RW’s article, Baar also stated that the “sad thing about the
Alsammarae story is so many people in the Administration and Obama’s campaign (and
his supporters in Congress!) have an interest in keeping the story buried.”

*snip*

Who is protecting Alsammarae and why?

As John Batchelor reported March 3, 2008, Alsammarae was still wanted by the Iraqi government. On April 10, 2008,
Batchelor wrote that Alsammarae had been sighted around the last week of March in “the first-class
lounge at the Queen Alia International Airport at Amman, Jordan.” Although seen in
the company of “Jordanian plain-clothes security men,” he did not enjoy the protection of Iraq.

On April 26, 2008, the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that an outstanding Interpol warrant for Alsammarae
“remains active, but U.S. authorities have shown no interest in arresting him” and that
the State Department “declined to comment” why he had not yet been arrested.

*snip*

The next day, on April 27, 2008, the Chicago Sun-Times stated that Alsammarae was not only NOT
in custody by U.S. or Iraqi authorities but had actually made a personal appearance at
the federal courthouse in Chicago to put up three of his properties as surety for his
friend and business partner, Tony Rezko.

If Aiham Alsammarae is not being returned to Iraq to complete his sentence or to be retried,
and if he is not being detained or questioned by U.S. authorities, the most likely conclusion
is that he is being protected in this country as well as several others in the Middle East—with the
obvious exception being Iraq.)

Additionally, on his website, Auchi posted this now-deleted narrative about his 2004 visit to
Illinois and Michigan in addition to a number of photographs, which have also been removed.

Herein are named three other individuals who attended the “reception”: Emil Jones, Jr., President of
the Illinois State Senate; Kwame Kilpatrick, Mayor of Detroit; and L. Brooks Patterson, Chief Executive Officer
of Oakland, Michigan.

This photograph of Emil Jones, Jr., with billionaire investor
Nadhmi Auchi points to an interesting tale about Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Jones. In a
multi-part
biographical series about Obama’s remarkable ascendance on the U.S. political scene, the
Chicago Tribune reported

Long before maverick Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald decided not to run for re-election in 2004, Obama approached
his mentor, Emil Jones, who was preparing to lead a new Democratic majority in the state Senate.

“You’re a very powerful guy,” Obama told Jones.

“I’ve got the power to do what?” Jones responded.

“You could help elect a U.S. senator,” Obama said.

Jones asked his protege if he had anyone in mind.

“Yeah,” Obama replied. “Me.”

Obama’s ambitions for higher office were an open secret in Springfield, but trying to make
the leap to the U.S. Senate seemed a long shot. He was an unknown
to most Chicago voters, let alone to those in the rest of the state. His loss to
Rush was so lopsided even Obama described it as “a spanking.”

He couldn’t count on the support of some prominent Black Caucus members, including Hendon.
In a recent interview, he said Obama was so ambitious that if the position were up for a vote, Obama would
run for “king of the world.”

Obama formally announced his campaign in January 2003, more than a year ahead of the primary.
Jones, of course, was there. Link, Walsh and Jacobs (see below) also attended, illustrating
that his support transcended the black community.

Hendon and Trotter (see below) were a tougher sell. Jones eventually got them to endorse Obama. Hendon
said it took “seven or eight” talks with Jones before he finally decided to go along. And,
Hendon said, he only did it out of loyalty to Jones.

Obama wasn’t expecting the endorsement of either Trotter or Hendon. He asked Jones how he pulled it off.

“I made them an offer,” Jones recalled telling Obama. “And you don’t want to know.”

# The Chicago Tribune wrote that “Link, Walsh and Jacobs” were Obama’s poker-playing pals: “blunt-talking
Denny Jacobs from the Quad Cities, and Larry Walsh from Elwood, whose ‘aw-shucks’ demeanor belied
deft political skills. ... Terry Link of Waukegan, who also was Lake County Democratic chairman.”
Additionally, Sen. Rickey Hendon is a “streetwise West Sider nicknamed ‘Hollywood’ who
once hoped to be a movie producer” and Sen. Donne Trotter “the Democratic point man on budget issues.

In 2000, Trotter and Obama vied to unseat U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, but didn’t come close to toppling
the South Side congressman.”

Viewed in the light of his newly-launched campaign to become the next U.S. Senator from Illinois, and
the presence of both his political patron—Rezko—and his political mentor—Jones—the
chances that Obama may have dropped in at this particular reception at the request of
his friend Tony Rezko increase winningly.

~~~~

Obama’s Auchi Problem

Excerpt:

Who is Nadhmi Auchi and why is he important to Barack Obama? Let’s take a look.

*

Contrary to Obama’s persistent claims, he indeed did favors for Tony Rezko, including this one:

“While Mr. Obama was running for the Senate, Mr. Rezko was also raising money for a
huge development in the South Loop of Chicago, often playing host to dinners
in a private room at the Four Seasons Hotel here.

“Former Rezko associates said that Governor Blagojevich attended one of the dinners, and
that at Mr. Rezko’s request, Mr. Obama dropped in at one for Middle Eastern bankers in early 2004,
just as he was starting to pull ahead in the Senate primary. The visits, Mr. Rezko’s
partners said, helped impress foreign guests.

“’I remember that he had been on the campaign trail, and he was completely wiped out and exhausted,’
said Anthony Licata, a lawyer who represented Mr. Rezko on real estate deals. ‘My recollection
is that he drank ice tea, and he talked about how he was really making progress, and we were all
excited to see him.’”

Last March, I asked: Was Nadhmi Auchi there?

Stuart Levine’s testimony on Monday didn’t answer that question, but no matter. Levine testified that
both Barack and Michelle Obama attended a reception Rezko held at his Wilmette home for Auchi. “News reports
from the courtroom said Mr. Rezko wanted to impress Mr. Auchi, who ultimately poured nearly $170 million
into the real estate venture,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Rezko’s lawyers have raised questions about Mr. Levine’s credibility on other issues, and Mr. Levine
offered few details on Monday about the party at Mr. Rezko’s house. Mr. Levine said Mr. Obama’s wife,
Michelle, was there. Mr. Obama’s campaign said she had no recollection of the event. Mr. Auchi’s
lawyer, Alasdair Pepper, has said that his client does not remember meeting Mr. Obama.”

The Sun-Times, however, reports that “according to two sources familiar with the gathering, the Obamas attended
the Wilmette reception, which came less than a month after Obama’s Democratic primary win for
his U.S. Senate seat.”

Let’s be clear then: The Obamas attended the Rezko party, and it’s not like Auchi
was just another guest. He was the guest of honor. The party was for him, as part of
Rezko’s effort to get him to invest in a real estate venture in the South Loop.
Surely Obama would know the purpose of a party and why the guest of honor was the
guest of honor (even as he somehow didn’t know that Rezko had slum properties in
his state senate district at the same time).

So that is established. Now, why does it matter?

*

First, who is Nadhmi Auchi?

A lot of folks have been asking that question.

Short story: He’s a controversial Iraqi-born, British billionaire who,
according to one report, “set up a variety of deals with Saddam Hussein’s
regime prior to the 1991 Gulf War, and was one of the largest private
shareholders in BNP Paribas, the bank that trafficked most of the funds involved in the UN
Oil-For-Food scandal. He also admitted taking kickbacks from the French petroleum
company TotalFinaElf in the 1990s (Auchi later sued Elf for entangling him in their criminal activities,
according to Forbes).”

Auchi is apparently still appealing a 2003 fraud conviction in France. He
visited Chicago and Detroit in 2004, but wasn’t allowed back in the country in 2005.

“Prosecutors in Mr. Rezko’s case have said that Mr. Rezko asked Illinois officials to help obtain a
visa for Mr. Auchi’s visit to Chicago,” the Times says. “The officials
have not been identified, and Mr. Obama’s campaign has said he was not involved in that effort.”

Let me ask you a question:

You’re Tony Rezko and you’ve bankrolled Barack Obama’s entire political
career. You helped him buy his house and you and your wife socialize with him and
his wife. You’ve held a reception for a potential investor to which you invited Obama,
who had just been elected to the United States Senate, to impress your business partner.

And you appeal to Illinois officials to help him get a visa. Are you telling me you do
not ask for Obama’s help?

*

Obama’s campaign says the senator “does not recall” meeting Auchi.
There’s a lot he didn’t “recall” about Rezko either for quite awhile.
You know, like actually knowing him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not hard to imagine where the millions of campaign donations and the illegal foreign contributions to
0’s warchest came from and how our country is being sold down the river.

This despicable blight on our country, .. endangering us exponentially, destroying our precious American way
of life was purchased outright by evil people who wish us ill.

I pray for my country and our brave military suffering under these indescribable conditions..

/Chicago Way) -Monk,Guilty plea background,Obama,

When/where will it ever end?...Thanks for the heads up AGAIN!

Blagojevich,Rezko,Levine,Kelly,Harris,Cellini..
Citizen Wells ^ | 11-2-09

Posted on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 10:25:32 AM by STARWISE
From:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2408732/posts

Alonzo Monk, Guilty plea background, Obama, Blagojevich, Rezko, Levine, Kelly, Harris, Cellini, Indictment, Rezko trial transcripts, Chicago IL corruption, Crime, Board rigging, Evelyn Pringle articles

###

Lest we forget about crime and corruption in Chicago

and the involvement by

Rod Blagojevich

Tony Rezko

Stuart Levine

Christopher Kelly

William Cellini

John Harris

Alonzo Monk

et al

and Obama’s ties to these corruption figures

Alonzo Monk Guilty Plea

Part II

In part I of this two part series on Alonzo Monk’s guilty plea, the Citizen Wells blog presented background on Monk’s involvement in corruption and how it impacted health care in Chicago and Illinois.

October 26, 2009

“It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Monk, Cellini, Robert Blagojevich, Harris, Rezko, and Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor and of certain state boards and commissions subject to the influence of the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including: appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.”

The article reveals:

* Just as Obama is politicizing now, Blagojevich touted health care for all in IL.

* The IL Health Planning Facilities Board was rigged thanks to Obama.

* Mercy Hospital construction was rigged for kickbacks.

* Children’s Memorial Hospital was a corruption target.

* Michelle Obama’s hospital pay nearly tripled after Barack was elected US Senator.

Alonzo Monk, et al corrupt IL Health Care

Now for more background on Alonzo Monk’s involvement in corruption.

From the Chicago Tribune, December 23, 2007.

“For years, Rod Blagojevich has projected two distinct images that define his tenure as Illinois’ governor.

In one, he is a populist champion with an agenda of “putting people first” by pushing causes like health care for all.

In the other, he is a consummate politician with cronies who offer advice while raising campaign cash and asking for favors.

Now, under the lights of a federal investigation, the distinctions are blurring, and the crony image is threatening to wash out the populist one.

Federal prosecutors for the first time have put Blagojevich inside their widespread investigation of pay-to-play in his administration.

Blagojevich told one convicted federal informant, “You stick with us and you will do very well for yourself,” according to a court document prosecutors filed.”

“Nix, however, disputed that Knapp’s influence is overriding. Instead, she said Blagojevich long has used a team approach to politicking and governing. In this vein, he is a public official heavily reliant on his aides.

His team has a core nucleus of Nix, chief of staff John Harris, former chief of staff Alonzo Monk, longtime political aide John Wyma, state Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Collinsville), state Sen. James DeLeo (D-Chicago) and campaign spokesman Doug Scofield.

But Monk, Scofield and Wyma are lobbyists, and their clients have won millions in state contracts under Blagojevich’s stewardship. And Kelly, another close adviser and friend, was indicted this month on federal tax fraud charges.” (((LATER COMMITTED SUICIDE, WHEN FACED WITH JAIL)))

Citizen Wells Note – I found this next statement interesting

***Remember, originially, Blagojevich was going to be the presidential candidate, not Obama.

“Instead of concentrating heavily on winning votes for his health care plan, Blagojevich crafted a strategy to initially sell his idea via a media blitz—a strategy that quickly fell on its face.

Critics, and even some of his allies, said the fatal flaw in this plan was funding the expansion through a gross receipts tax on businesses. True to political form, Blagojevich found his enemy—corporations—and railed against them.”

From the indictment of

ROD BLAGOJEVICH, CHRISTOPHER KELLY, ALONZO MONK, WILLIAM F. CELLINI, SR., JOHN HARRIS, and ROBERT BLAGOJEVICH

“Alonzo Monk was a long-time associate of defendant ROD BLAGOJEVICH, and among other things served as his general counsel while a Member of Congress, as campaign manager for his 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial campaigns, on his transition team after his election in November 2002, and as his Chief of Staff from in or about January 2003 until in or about December 2005.

Beginning in or about early 2007, Monk worked as a lobbyist, doing business as AM3 Consulting, Ltd.

As a lobbyist, Monk principally represented businesses with interests involving Illinois state government, including businesses in the horse racing industry. In addition, Monk served as Chairman of Friends of Blagojevich from in or about December 2006 to in or about July 2007.”

“Means and Method of the Conspiracy

***

6. It was part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and CHRISTOPHER KELLY, as well as co-conspirators Alonzo Monk, William F. Cellini, Sr., John Harris, Robert Blagojevich, Antoin Rezko, and Stuart Levine, and others, engaged in a scheme to deprive the people of the State of Illinois and the beneficiaries of TRS of their intangible right to the honest services of defendant ROD BLAGOJEVICH, Alonzo Monk, John Harris, and Stuart Levine, as more fully described in Count Two, paragraphs 3 through 44 of this indictment.

***

7. It was further part of the conspiracy that defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Monk, Cellini, Robert Blagojevich, Harris, Rezko, and Levine, and others, used and attempted to use the powers of the Office of the Governor and of certain state boards and commissions subject to the influence of the Office of the Governor, to take and cause governmental actions, including:

appointments to boards and commissions; the awarding of state business, grants, and investment fund allocations; the enactment of legislation and executive orders; and the appointment of a United States Senator; in exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others, including campaign contributions for ROD BLAGOJEVICH, money for themselves, and employment for ROD BLAGOJEVICH and his wife.”

***

“Defendants ROD BLAGOJEVICH and KELLY, along with Rezko and Monk, agreed to direct lucrative state business relating to the refinancing of billions of dollars in State of Illinois Pension Obligation Bonds to a company whose lobbyist agreed to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rezko out of the fee the lobbyist would collect, and Rezko in turn agreed to split the money with ROD BLAGOJEVICH, KELLY, and Monk;”

Regulators clamp down on Giannoulias’ Broadway Bank
Chicago Business ^ | 01/27/10 | Steve Daniels
From:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2439453/posts?page=1

Posted on Thursday, January 28, 2010 3:00:12 PM by AtlasStalled

Broadway Bank, the troubled Chicago lender owned by the family of Illinois Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, has entered into a consent order with banking regulators requiring it to raise tens of millions in capital, stop paying dividends to the family without regulatory approval, and hire an outside party to evaluate the bank’s senior management. * * * This is not the first time the bank has been a source of embarrassment for Alexi Giannoulias. Three years ago, bank loans to several organized crime figures came to light. The bank foreclosed on properties held by two of those borrowers last year.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagobusiness.com ...

Something is NOT right here....Maybe other should have their expenses related to the Olympic COmmittee investigated too.

The office’s probe included a review of artwork purchased by the school system under Scott’s watch and items Scott himself had charged, including expenses related to his separate role as a Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee member.

FROM
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2441027/posts

HIS FINAL HOURS | Police files obtained by Sun-Times show School Board

###

Sixteen hours before he was found dead, city School Board President Michael W. Scott got a Sunday-morning call from a top aide to Mayor Daley to schedule a meeting about questionable expenses that Scott and his staff had charged to board credit cards.

Scott had a 13-minute conversation with mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard starting at 11:01 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, according to police reports obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times about Scott’s suicide.

Scott goes to the office of a real estate developer regarding Scott’s monthly fee for consulting on projects. Scott is told the consulting contract is void, according to reports from the Chicago Police Department, which blacked out the names of everyone who was interviewed.

(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/2020323,CST-NWS-scott31.article

Stolen for the CHicago Crime thread...It’s the CHicago way!
Feel free to add more and/or connect all the dots you find... More on the “family in the early part of the thread” also around 400.

From:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2441649/posts

Giannoulias admitted to most controversial bank loans
Chicago Sun-Times ^ | 01/31/10 | ABDON M. PALLASCH

Posted on Sunday, January 31, 2010 11:01:08 PM by AtlasStalled

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman cited a New York Times column Sunday morning saying front-runner Alexi Giannoulias needs to answer questions about what loans he approved as vice president and chief loan officer for Broadway Bank from 2002 to 2006. * * * Among the loans Giannoulias has gotten heat for:

* More than $10 million from 2001 to 2005 to alleged Father & Son Russian mobster team Lev and Boris Stratievsky. Father Lev has passed away. Son Boris is in jail facing money-laundering charges. Broadway funded development projects some on the South Side — that tenants and city attorneys complained were roach motels. Broadway has been unable to collect on the loans.

* About $12.9 million to convicted bookmaker Michael Giorango for a Miami Beach hotel and a Hollywood, Fla., restaurant, among other ventures, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Broadway has sued Giorango and his partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, convicted of running a betting operation in Chicago, seeking to get the money back. Giannoulias initially downplayed his relationship with Giorango, noting the loans to him started before he joined the bank. Later he said he went to Miami to meet Giorango and inspect the property, and that another $3 million loan to Giorango was for a South Carolina casino.

“If I knew then what I know now, obviously we wouldn’t have made those loans,” Giannoulias told the Sun-Times regarding the loans to the organized crime-linked recipients.

(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...

Shiver.

Stolen...It’s the Chicago way....Pleads quilty/No discovery
Feel free to connect dots and add any material you find.

FROM:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2442349/posts?page=1

Ald. Carothers pleads guilty to corruption, resigns [Name that party Alert]
Chicago Breaking News ^ | 02/01/10 | Jeff Coen and Todd Lighty

Posted on Monday, February 01, 2010 10:13:55 PM by freespirited

Ald. Carothers pleads guilty to corruption, resigns February 1, 2010 6:48 PM | 44 Comments | UPDATED STORY

Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers pleaded guilty today to federal corruption charges in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to be sentenced to 28 months in prison.

Hours after entering the plea, Carothers resigned from the City Council in a letter to Mayor Richard Daley. “Please keep me and my family in your prayers,” Carothers wrote.

In admitting he accepted $40,000 in improvements to his home for supporting a developer’s controversial project in his ward, Carothers joins a long list of crooked aldermen who have helped cement Chicago’s reputation for political corruption.

The 29th Ward alderman pleaded guilty to one count of failing to report the home improvements on his income taxes and to one count of corruptly accepting items of value for supporting a zoning change for the project.

The plea deal calls for prosecutors to drop four more serious wire and mail fraud charges that carried stiffer penalties.

Under state law, the guilty plea requires that Carothers’ City Council seat be vacated immediately.

“”I want to personally thank you for your deeply appreciated expressions of support during this very difficult time,” Carothers wrote in his resignation letter, addressed to Daley who will appoint a replacement. “It has indeed been a pleasure serving with you and other members of the Chicago City Council.”

Carothers’ attorney, Jeffrey Steinback, was asked why Carothers accepted a bribe in return for supporting the zoning change.

Steinback said the situation was not something Carothers initiated or demanded, and that Carothers already supported the change for Galewood Yards because it was good for his ward.

The home improvements he accepted were a reward for doing so, Steinback said, and Carothers first asked the developer, Calvin Boender whether an invoice for the work would be forthcoming.

“What was good for his ward was good for his ward, regardless of these additional benefits, which he should not have received,” Steinback said. “That is the crime.”

Carothers knew he should not have been accepting such things from someone doing business with the city, the lawyer said. The alderman is not denying that what he did was illegal, Steinback said.

“I haven’t yet met a perfect human being. I doubt in my lifetime that I will,” he said. “People engage in activities that they regret. I know that this is something that Ike regrets deeply. That’s why he has come in and pled guilty. That’s why he’s agreed to cooperate with the government — in an attempt to try to make things right.”

For months, Carothers has been cooperating with federal authorities and working undercover secretly recording other public officials and businessmen. He would be the government’s star witness at separate trials of the developer and of a businessman accused of bribing alderman for favors at Chicago’s two airports.

Carothers’ conviction brings to 28 the number of alderman found guilty of wrongdoing since 1972. One of those was Carothers’ father, William, who was accused of similar wrongdoing as his son. The elder Carothers was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison in 1983 for extorting remodeling work for his ward office.

Ike Carothers, 55, has been an alderman since 1999 and is one of Daley’s staunchest allies on the City Council. Aldermen are paid $110,560-a-year.

When Carothers was indicted last May, Daley said he was surprised by the charges and called the alderman a “hardworking, dedicated public servant.”

Carothers’ co-defendant, Boender, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in March. Ten current or former aldermen are fighting subpoenas for their testimony sought by Boender.

Boender allegedly bribed Carothers to win his support for a zoning change for Galewood Yards, a controversial commercial and residential project in the alderman’s ward.

The Tribune in 2008 chronicled how Boender overrode the opposition of city planners to Galewood Yards after enlisting the support of Carothers and U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago). Boender and his associates had donated about $55,000 to Carothers’ re-election campaigns and $41,000 to Gutierrez.

Gutierrez has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The indictment also alleged the Carothers asked Boender to donate to a relative who was running for Congress in 2004 and that Boender enlisted two others to give contributions on his behalf. Carothers’ aunt, Anita Rivkin-Carothers, ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for Congress.

Carothers has cooperated with the FBI beginning in 2008 and has recorded others with a hidden microphone and a video camera. Carothers is at the center of the federal bribery case of businessman Wafeek “Wally” Aiyash, who he secretly recorded.

According to court records, Aiyash allegedly offered a $100,000 bribe to Carothers to help him open seven restaurants at O’Hare International and Midway airports. Carothers was a member of the council’s Aviation Committee, whose duties include approving contracts at the airports.

Aiyash, like Boender, donated to the alderman’s political campaigns and did business in his West Side ward. Aiyash’s lawyer declined to comment

CHICAGO: CRIME KIND OF TOWN

. . . . Another old thread full of information.

[Thanks, hoosiermama.]

Yep .. now we maybe know why Alexi is all
over the press, blasting Cohen ..

Michael Giorango
February 03, 2010
Alexi, Please Do Answer
http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/friends_of_ours/michael-giorango/

Giannoulias calls for Cohen to step down
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/02/giannoulias_calls_for_cohen_to.html

More background:

Poll: Kirk whales Giannoulias
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/dennis-byrne-barbershop/2010/02/poll-kirk-whales-giannoulias.html

67 posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 10:55:32 PM by STARWISE

To: Velveeta
It would be great to find some ways to get any of the national media interested in the Illinois cesspool that raised Barack Obama’s political career -— I know it’s too much to ask that MSM clowns actually do some serious reporting, but not nearly enough has ever been reported widely about Rezko and co.

“Vrdolyak admitted he was to split the payment with Levine, who became the government’s star witness in the trial that ended in the fraud conviction of Tony Rezko, a top fundraiser for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”

Vrdolyak to be re-sentenced

appeals court found the probation and fine for Vrdolyak to be a joke..... seems that the original judge must have been either on the payroll or simply scared off, b/c he continually tried to undermine the prosecution and then gave the hand-slap probation sentence

68 posted on Friday, February 05, 2010 11:03:05 PM by Enchante

Interesting site...thanks for posting it.

cross reference X with BO REVCO at 63

All of the recent world events that seem unreal or at least hard to believe are occurring because the tide in America is turning aginst Obama and he knows it.

What today’s American Thinker author states is “right on the money”. African American preacher, Rev. James David Manning, Ph.D., is ALSO saying the same thing as is in this article.

“What Does ‘Racial Socialism’ Sound Like to You?”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/02/what_does_racial_socialism_sou.html

http://msunderestimated.com/2009/07/rev-manning-on-obamas-get-whitey-movement-video/
James David manning, Ph.D.
The Manning Report Mon-Fri 12-3
www.atlah.org
Author: The Oblation Hour

Still, the REAL problem is even larger than mere racial socialism. There is a theory that is building steam of very recently which is as follows: for power and domination purposes, many of the world’s Black men are in league with radical Muslim extremists to bring down white society, most specifically white males.

Before you dismiss this as a racial rant please read the rest of my comment.

Much of what follows revolves around the fact that Malcom X took the manifesto of the Black Panther Party (that became the Black Liberation Army) and the plight of the repressed African American male in need of vast reparations abroad. Malcolm X accomplished this by completing THREE extensive (multiple months long) tours of the more powerful African nations during which he met with the nations’ PRESIDENTS and other power elites.

Malcom X met with Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta on a trip he took to AFRICA in 1964 on which he visited Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. These three AFRICAN countries happen to be nations in which the AFRICAN OBAMA/ODINGA Luo tribe has its greatest representation

Malcom X’s visit to Kenya in 1964 occurred when Obama’s Uncle (on his mother’s side) Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga was Vice President of Kenya (1964-1966) and Obama’s father Barack Hussein Obama Sr. was a top economist for Kenya’s Finance Ministry (1965-1966).

The President of Kenya at the time was Jomo Kenyatta who today is attributed with running the most corrupt administration in Kenyan history. Kenyatta and Odinga took orders from and their administration was directly financed by the Soviet Communist government. Odinga and Obama Sr. were Cummunist Kenyan government officials when Malcolm X shared his message wth the leaders of Africa.

The story is better fleshed out in the posting cited below:

“Obama, the Black Panther Party (BPP), Black Liberation Army (BLA), Weather Underground (WU), global Muslim Brotherhood (MB) network, Al Qaeda, and Kenyan and American Politics are All Interconnected”

http://obamashiddenagenda.blogtownhall.com/2010/02/18/obama,_the_black_panther_party_bpp,_black_liberation_army_bla,_weather_underground_wu,_global_muslim_brotherhood_mb_network,_al_qaeda,_and_kenyan_and_american_politics_are_all_interconnected.thtml

Detail on Malcolm X’s Travels to Africa:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X#Early_years

Malcolm X visited Africa on three separate occasions, once in 1959 and twice in 1964. During his visits, he met officials, gave interviews to newspapers, and spoke on television and radio in Egypt, Ethiopia, Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, Senegal, Liberia, Algeria, and Morocco. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, and Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria invited Malcolm X to serve in their governments.

In 1959, Malcolm X traveled to Egypt (then known as the United Arab Republic), Sudan, Nigeria, and Ghana to arrange a tour for Elijah Muhammad.The first of the two trips Malcolm X made to Africa in 1964 lasted from April 13 until May 21, before and after his Hajj. On May 8, following his speech at the University of Ibadan, Malcolm X was made an honorary member of the Nigerian Muslim Students’ Association. During this reception the students bestowed upon him the name “Omowale”, which means “the son who has come home” in the Yoruba language.Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography that he “had never received a more treasured honor.”

On July 9, 1964, Malcolm X returned to Africa. On July 17, he was welcomed to the second meeting of the Organization of African Unity in Cairo, Egypt (OAU Summit 17–21 July 1964) as a representative of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. By the time he returned to the United States on November 24, 1964, Malcolm had met with every prominent African leader and established an international connection between Africans on the continent and those in the diaspora.

In the 45 years that have passed since Malcom X’s assasination (Feb. 21, 1965), the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, the nation of Islam, and the Black Muslim Brotherhood have continued to spread Malcolm X’s message abroad.

2,969 posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 2:13:03 AM by BIOCHEMKY

PLEASE ADD :Rashid Khalidi’s vast terrorist connections
HERE with links. TY

GOOD TIMELINE:

Some info I have re: Resko and those times in Chicago:

1992 The far-leftist New Party is founded, a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist officials, mostly Democrats. Their objective is to move the Democratic Party leftward.

1993-2004 Obama works as an associate in the Chicago Law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. In time, this job would bring him support from slum landlords like convicted felon Tony Rezco.

In 1995, Anne Hallett of the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform, Bill Ayers of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Warren Chapman of the Joyce Foundation proposed the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

1995-1999 Obama serves as the Chairman of Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), a position he receives due to Bill Ayers.
1995-2000, Ayers serves as Co-chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge’s Chicago School Reform Collaborative (CSRC), a second operating entity of the CAC.

1995-2000, Ayers serves as Co-chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge’s Consortium of Chicago Schools Research (CCSR), a third operating entity of the CAC.

1995-2002 through foundations Obama directs, Bill Ayers receives nearly 49 million dollars to fuel his socio-politically destructive radical school reform projects.

1995 Obama, along with Rev. Wright and controversial catholic priest Michael Pfleger help to organize Louis Farrakhan’s famous Million Man March in DC. It is evident that the black liberationist preachers are also Obama’s valued political allies.

2001-2002, Woods Fund with directors Ayers and Obama, made grants of $40,000 and $35,000 to the Arab American Action Network, founded by radical Rashid Khalidi. Rashid is a professor at Columbia. He was strongly identified with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Khalidi hosted a fundraiser for Obama in 2000.

2005 Obama purchases land at a price hundreds of thousands of dollars below the appraised price from his next-door neighbor and top political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko who is now a convicted felon and at the center of a federal investigation.

2008 The racist leader Louis Farrakhan who earlier lavished praise on Obama, “this young man is the hope of the entire world”, “America will change and be made better.” Latest remarks at Nation of Islam rally (on U-tube), says “When Obama talks the Messiah is absolutely speaking.” and “I love my BROTHER and I want to see that brother successful. I don’t want to say anything that would hurt that brother, and I don’t want them to use me or the Nation of Islam.”

April 25, 2008 (Judicial Watch) “The chairman of an Islamic “charity” shut down by the U.S. government for funding Middle Eastern terrorists has dedicated himself to raising money for … Obama.”

June 2008 Mohamed Salim Al-Churbaji - a Syrian University student serves as a fundraiser and organizer for Obama’s campaign. His father, Mohammed Al-Churbaji, is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood with close ties to such terrorists as Abu Amatallah; leading mujahideen fighters Abu Rawdha; and Bassam Ahmad, the latter fought for Osama Bin Laden!

2008 Obama is forced to cut ties with Robert Malley, his foreign policy advisor after the latter told the Times of London that he had been in regular contact with Hamas.

2008 Valerie Jarrett, Michele Obama’s boss, becomes Obama’s chief advisor. Obama doesn’t make any major decisions without first talking to her. She was born in Shiraz, Iran.

September 23, 2008 – After pouring through thousands of pages of newly released documents from archives of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, they reveal that Obama and Ayers were “partners” in a radical education program.

Rezko was an Obama fundraising front man for the powers that be at the Arab American Action Network:

The Arab American Action Network is a Chicago community center founded in 1995, the brainchild of Columbia University historian and Professor of Arab Studies Rashid Khalidi and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Assistant Dean Mona Khalidi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_American_Action_Network

You know about Rashid Khalidi’s vast terrorist connections

You can connect these dots with the other Chicago connections from this, William Daley was heavily mentioned

PRESIDENTIAL TREASON 101-105

(The Clinton Administration – 1999)

Creating Conditions for Presidential Treason Connecting the Dots

http://theoptiontrader.com/pt/PT_101.htm

Oh yah. You also can probably dig into Alamo Girl’s Legacy & find oodles of connections

THE DOWNSIDE LEGACY ARCHIVES

http://www.alamo-girl.com/

THanks MM FYI Star

http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2008/06/pro-obama-iraqi-american-ex-convict.html
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Pro-Obama Iraqi-American Ex-Convict Supports Increased Attacks on U.S. Troops

There’s so much vileness here that I really don’t know what to mop up first.

Ayham Alsammarae, Iraq’s slimy ex-Minister of Electricity under the Bremer and Allawi administrations, who had escaped from an Iraqi prison by hiring an American security company to break him out back in December 2006, has resurfaced in the Jordanian capital Amman where he gave a press conference today saying, among other things, that he hoped that the insurgency in Iraq “would continue [against U.S. occupation] and avenges the Iraqi people.”

Alsammarae, an Iraqi-American Chicagoan, added during remarks carried by Radio Sawa (Arabic link) that he had contributed the maximum allowable of $2,300 to Barack Obama’s campaign. But there’s another Obama link to Alsammarae: while serving as electricity minister Alsammarae had been involved in brokering deals in the Iraqi electricity sector for Antoin Rezko, Obama’s long-term friend and patron. Rezko is the Syrian-American hustler who was convicted of fraud in an Illinois court on the day that Obama secured the Democratic nomination.

Alsammarae had been appointed minister under the Coalition Provisional Authority upon the recommendation of senior State Department officials who were involved in Iraqi affairs at the time. After leaving office upon Allawi’s election loss, Alsammarae reinvented himself as a mediator between insurgent groups and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq at the time Zalmay Khalilzad, who in turn arranged for Alsammarae, a onetime Republican Party fundraiser and activist in Arab-American circles, to meet with senior Bush administration officials. He was arrested by Iraqi police in Baghdad soon afterwards, an act that Alsammarae, a Sunni Arab, claimed was motivated by sectarian animosity.

Alsammarae escaped from prison after facing multiple corruption charges brought against him by Iraq’s Public Commission for Integrity; he was sprung from jail by hired U.S. mercenaries and left Iraq on a forged Chinese passport, he flew out to Amman on a private jet almost certainly with the knowledge and connivance of some U.S. intelligence officials. He returned to his multi-million dollar mansion in Chicago and, save for a few press interviews here and there, stayed under the radar. But Alsammarae seems to have been a beneficiary of the Amnesty Law that was recently passed by the Iraqi parliament, which was a benchmark for progress actively pushed for by Senate Democrats in Washington DC, and he’s eagerly touting his return to Iraqi politics, as he did in today’s press conference.

In an astounding and blatantly treasonous assertion for a U.S. citizenship holder, he stated that “the [insurgency] in Iraq is a legitimate resistance [movement] and it is against occupation and any resistance in the world against occupation is considered legitimate, and I hope that the [insurgency] continues and avenges the Iraqi people and I look forward to expanding its political agenda.”

I know there’s free speech and all, but isn’t calling for more attacks on U.S. troops a violation of sorts? Isn’t it ethically reprehensible? If Alsammarae’s citizenship can’t be revoked, can’t he be prosecuted on something else?

I’ve heard that Alsammarae allegedly fled Chicago because the authorities were going to get him on tax evasion. I guess his resemblances to Al Capone’s lifestyle—something that Alsammarae once boasted of in a press interview—go all the way.

Now, he wants more insurgent attacks on U.S. troops. What a slime-bucket, but he’s the same slime-bucket that I’ve always thought he was, from the days before the war when he opportunistically hopped onto the anti-Saddam bandwagon when it began revving up for real.

I had seen part of Alsammarrae’s General Intelligence Directorate file back in Baghdad, and he’s identified as a snitch that had worked for the Saddam regime while he was a student in the 1970s, reporting on the political activities and utterances of fellow Iraqi students then pursuing their degrees in the UK.

In another vein, Alsammarrae also tells Radio Sawa that he’s contributed money to the Obama campaign. I wonder how Obama would react to a paycheck and an endorsement from ex-con buddy of Rezko’s who is now braying for more American soldiers to be killed.

Alsammarrae claimed that he was on his way back to Iraq after being let off the legal hook under the amnesty law, and that he is set to re-join Ayad Allawi’s political coalition.

*****************
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/06/17/former-republican-tied-to-rezko-swtiches-sides-backs-obama-terrorists-in-iraq/

Not only do Alsammarae and Obama share a connection with Tony Rezko, they also share a taste in movies. Here he is explaining his improbable escape from an Iraqi prison (where he was held on corruption charges) in 2006:

When asked how he could have pulled off such an escape, Mr. Alsammarae, who moved to Chicago in 1976 but returned to Iraq just after the invasion, laughed uproariously for 20 seconds. Then, recycling a famous line from an exchange about Al Capone in “The Untouchables,” Mr. Alsammarae said with undisguised glee: “The Chicago way.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/world/middleeast/20minister.html?_r=2&oref=slogin
Escaped Minister Says He Fled Iraqi Jail ‘the Chicago Way’
(Radio Sawa is a 24-hour Arabic-language radio network that originates in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates and Washington and receives support from the U.S. government.)

By JAMES GLANZ
Published: December 20, 2006
BAGHDAD, Dec. 19 — In a lengthy phone conversation on Tuesday, the former Iraqi electricity minister who escaped from a Baghdad jail on Sunday ridiculed American and Iraqi officials and said he fled because he did not trust the police and had received a tip that he would be assassinated within days.

Forum: The Transition in Iraq
The official, Aiham Alsammarae, who telephoned this reporter, said, without offering proof, that he was already outside Iraq after finagling his way aboard a flight at the Baghdad International Airport.

Incredulous Iraqi security and justice officials disputed parts of his account, saying that a figure as recognizable as Mr. Alsammarae could not possibly have slipped onto a flight when he was the subject of a manhunt.

Mr. Alsammarae, who holds dual American and Iraqi citizenship, scoffed at those assertions and said they were made by officials who spent too much time inside the protected Green Zone in central Baghdad and did not understand how the country really worked.

“Those suckers who are sitting in the Green Zone, they cannot go out and see the people they are governing?” asked Mr. Alsammarae, whose unmistakable speech patterns in English reflect his Iraqi and American backgrounds. “This is a joke.

“So why I cannot take the airport? It’s not because I am a smart cookie. Any Iraqi can do it, even if they have 10,000 court orders against him. This is Iraq.”

One fact Iraqi officials could not dispute: Mr. Alsammarae, who had been jailed four months ago on corruption charges stemming from deals made when he was the electricity minister from August 2003 to May 2005, was still free.

If correct, Mr. Alsammarae’s tale of escape would mean that he not only worked his way free of the Iraqi police guarding the jail but also eluded the thousands of Western and Iraqi security forces stationed in the dense maze of checkpoints and blast walls in the Green Zone, which is the fortified heart of the American occupation and the Iraqi government.

When asked how he could have pulled off such an escape, Mr. Alsammarae, who moved to Chicago in 1976 but returned to Iraq just after the invasion, laughed uproariously for 20 seconds. Then, recycling a famous line from an exchange about Al Capone in “The Untouchables,” Mr. Alsammarae said with undisguised glee: “The Chicago way.”

Mr. Alsammarae was the most senior Iraqi official of the post-Saddam Hussein era to be arrested and jailed. His career over the past three years has had a meteoric trajectory, from his meeting with President Bush at the White House in September 2003 to his arrest in August.

Although an appeals court overturned his only conviction last week, he faced additional charges and it was unclear whether he could be freed on bail under Iraqi law.

His escape is a serious embarrassment for the Interior Ministry and the American-led forces that are guarding the Green Zone and struggling to shape the Iraqi police into an effective security force. Iraqi officials expressed consternation when informed that Mr. Alsammarae had telephoned a reporter while on the lam.

“I have no information,” said Brigadier Abdul Karim Khalif, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. “He escaped from us.”

Mr. Khalif did say that the police chief and his assistant at the station where Mr. Alsammarae had been held were under arrest and that they were being questioned on the escape.

“We are not just embarrassed by that, but we are very angry with our employees and this thing should not happen again,” Mr. Khalif said.

Mr. Khalif said that a jailbreak was a crime under Iraqi law and that Mr. Alsammarae would be pursued on those grounds as well.

“Now, he is a fugitive from justice,” said Rathi al-Rathi, head of the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity, whose investigation led to Mr. Alsammarae’s prosecution. “He will be on the run, and he will be pursued by Interpol for the rest of his life.”

But Mr. Rathi said he did not believe Mr. Alsammarae had left Iraq yet because the borders had been sealed. When informed of that assertion in an e-mail message, Mr. Alsammarae could scarcely contain his disdain of Mr. Rathi, whose investigations Mr. Alsammarae believes are politically motivated.

“Ask him if he wants me to stop and pick him up tomorrow and show him the way out!!!” Mr. Alsammarae wrote in response.

In a measure of just how murky the matter has become, Mr. Rathi himself has recently been accused of corruption in the finances of his own office. He has in turn dismissed those charges as political.

Mr. Alsammarae shed little direct light on the two leading theories of how he escaped: either with the help of a mysterious Western private security firm that appeared at the station on Sunday, or with the complicity of the Iraqi police.

“I don’t like to harm these people who helped me,” he said.

Despite the charges against him, Mr. Alsammarae said he did not believe that the American authorities would arrest him in Chicago. “I hope they are smarter than that,” he said.
******************************

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/917388,CST-NWS-rezko27.article

Ex-fugitive put up homes to spring Rezko
FEDERAL COURT | Ex-Iraq fugitive, a longtime pal, covers a third of his $8.5M bail

April 27, 2008

BY NATASHA KORECKI, TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters
A former Iraqi official and ex-international fugitive helped spring Tony Rezko from jail earlier this month, putting up homes that comprise nearly one-third of the $8.5 million in property and cash securing Rezko’s bail, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The three homes belonging to former Iraqi Electricity Minister Aiham Alsammarae — a dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen who broke out of a Baghdad jail in 2006 — are part of a long list made public in Rezko’s case Friday following a Sun-Times request. Six other individuals who pledged property to get Rezko out of the Metropolitan Correctional Center on April 18 are current or former state employees.

Who helped bail him out
Tony Rezko’s $8.5 million bail is being secured by properties and cash linked to friends and family. Here are many of those people and what they’d forfeit if Rezko flees:

* Former Iraqi Electricity Minister Aiham Alsammarae and his wife, Amura: an Oak Brook mansion and two South Loop condominiums

* Illinois Department of Central Management Services employee Mustafa Abdalla: house in Libertyville

* Shant and Layla Avakian: house in Morton Grove

* Ali M. Bagdadi and Darlene Bagdadi: two-story retail building in Chicago

* Abir Dawli: property in Emerson, N.J.

* Frederick Dawli: property in Paramus, N.J.

* Basim Dihu: house in Des Plaines

* Former Illinois Department of Central Management Services employee Ferras Elshair: house in Darien

* Illinois Public Health Department Employee Rosemarie Karim: house in Chicago

* Illinois Department of Central Management Services employee Donald J. Lynch: house in Deerfield

* Dr. George and Inam Malki: property in Heathrow, Fla.

* Roger Malki: condo in South Loop

* Illinois secretary of state employee Sue Merjan and her husband, George: a house in Orland Park and a North Side condo

* Sahar A. Nammari: home in Bartlett

* Theodora A. Ohanis: condo in Chicago

* Karam Razko: house in Hinsdale

* Burt R. Rezko: house on South Side

* Kinda Rezko: house on Northwest Side

* Rezekalla Rezko: house in Orland Hills

* Illinois Department of Central Management Services employee Jenan S. Shamoun: house in Elk Grove Village

SOURCE: Court records
Alsammarae put up $1.9 million in equity in his Oak Brook mansion, along with $840,000 in equity from two South Loop condominiums, according to court records. In recent days, he appeared in the downtown federal courthouse to pledge his property and signed papers related to Rezko’s bail. That proceeding, however, was conducted in a private session with U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve and lawyers. Records from the proceeding weren’t immediately released.

Iraqi high court cleared charges

International intrigue surrounds Alsammarae, who dramatically fled Iraq in late 2006 after being held on a corruption conviction that he maintains was groundless. Documents obtained by the Sun-Times indicate that an Iraqi high court cleared his charges. A letter dated April 8 from the High Judicial Council, Central Criminal Court, was recently sent to Interpol stating: “The decision of his conviction in absentia has been revoked by the Union Cessation Court.” However, an Interpol warrant remains active, and officials Friday would not say why.

Alsammarae and Rezko have been friends since they were classmates at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

U.S. court papers recently revealed that the feds once accused Rezko, a native of Syria, of paying Alsammarae a $1.5 million bribe when Alsammarae was electricity minister.

Alsammarae allegedly helped a firm Rezko owned, Companion Security, win a $50 million contract to train Iraqi power plant security guards, but the deal was left in limbo a month later because of a change in Iraq’s leadership.

Rezko’s lawyers have called the bribe accusation “baseless.” Attempts to reach Alsammarae were unsuccessful.

The State Department declined to comment about why Alsammarae remains listed as a fugitive by Interpol. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, also declined to comment.

Prosecutors, however, strongly opposed Rezko’s release from jail, saying he was a flight risk.

“He has quite literally taken millions of dollars from people whom he considered his closest friends,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven said at Rezko’s bond hearing.

Defense lawyers countered that Rezko never belonged behind bars and has no intention of fleeing. They pointed out that Rezko was overseas when he was indicted and still returned to face charges.

Judge cites community ties

Rezko was arrested Jan. 28 after he failed to disclose a $3.8 million overseas wire transfer from Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi. But St. Eve said Rezko and his lawyers have, under oath, accounted for where the money was directed. St. Eve said she released Rezko in part because she was impressed by the community backing for him at trial every day.

St. Eve said that showed Rezko has ties to the community and an interest in staying in the country.

Rezko, 52, is on trial on charges that he solicited kickbacks from companies seeking state business under Gov. Blagojevich.

Sources previously told the Sun-Times that the feds are investigating Rezko’s dealings in Iraq, where Rezko also once had a contract with Alsammarae’s agency to build a power plant. As was the case with the security contract, the power plant deal never materialized.
*************************************
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obamas_rezkoauchi_recollection.html
Obama’s Rezko-Auchi recollection
Posted April 28, 2008 8:00 AM

by Rick Pearson and John McCormick

Late last week, Sen. Barack Obama said he didn’t recall meeting a controversial Iraqi-born billionaire at a party held at the home of his former friend and fundraiser, Antoin “Tony” Rezko, on April 3, 2004, because it was in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois.

Obama didn’t deny the assertion of Stuart Levine, a key witness in Rezko’s federal fraud trial, that the now-Democratic presidential contender attended the party held on behalf of Nadhmi Auchi, a British citizen appealing a fraud conviction in France. Rezko was allegedly trying to partner up with Auchi and may have been using an Obama appearance to demonstrate clout.

“I just don’t have a recollection of the event,” Obama said Friday. “As I said, I was in the middle of running a U.S. Senate race. So, you know, I was speaking all the time, probably six, seven, eight times a day.”

Obama may not recall Rezko’s party for Auchi, but he was not in the “middle” of a U.S. Senate race or speaking all the time. The Saturday party was held less than three weeks after Obama had won the March 16 Democratic primary nomination and, as is tradition, the candidates slow their immediate post-primary campaign schedules considerably before reheating the fall general election contest in late summer.

Indeed, an archived copy of an Obama “upcoming events” schedule on his old Senate campaign web site shows that on a Saturday two weeks later, he had no personal campaign activities. On Friday, April 13, the web site shows Obama touring Illinois coal-country at four morning events with the state’s senior senator, Dick Durbin.

On March 31, 2004, and Thursday, April 1, 2004, just a few days before Rezko’s April 3 party for Auchi, Obama wasn’t engaged in full day campaigning. Instead, he was on the floor of the Illinois Senate, where he advanced a measure to override a federal proposal to restrict overtime pay. On Friday, April 2, the day before the party, Obama taped a Chicago news radio interview program. And on Saturday, along with the Rezko party, Obama was among the glitterati who attended a Ritz-Carlton wedding reception.

On Sunday, April 4, Obama was on the South Side of Chicago, listening to a Palm Sunday homily at St. Sabina Catholic Church delivered by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Also in attendance in the overflow crowd were Rev. Jesse Jackson and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, as the day also marked the anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

Questions for and answers from Obama, on Rezko:

“I have to say that I just don’t recall it. I mean this has been, I guess, four years ago. My understanding, through his lawyer, Mr. Auchi doesn’t recall meeting me and you know, I can’t speak for other people’s recollections. But I’ve said publicly, on many occasions, that I had a social relationship with Mr. Rezko.”

Would you remember a toast?

“I’m fairly certain I would remember giving a specific toast to somebody. Keep in mind, though, that this was right in the midst of my U.S. Senate campaign, so I was doing three or four events a day. So, I mean, there were very few events where I wasn’t speaking on anything. But I have no recollection of this particular event.”

Do you think Rezko may have been using you to kind of impress potential investors?

“As I say, I just don’t have a recollection of the event. As I said, I was in the middle of running a U.S. Senate race, so, you know, I was speaking all the time, probably six, seven, eight times a day.”

Right, but why go to this event that was specifically designed for Rezko investors?

“As I said, I have no recollection of the event. Alright?”

Thank you for remembering the DSL!

Always my friend!