And This is the Guy
Who Might Be President?
It was no secret that Tony Rezko was in trouble. Long before he went to trial on the federal charges for which he was recently indicted, he was the target of a dozen lawsuits, all of them reported on in the Chicago press about alleged corruption and fraud. Rezko had trouble with creditors for years. All of these law suits were filed from 2002 to 2005. Rezko had trouble with creditors for years. It is not unsimilar to Obama not knowing what his preacher was preaching in church. Was Obama asleep? Did he also not read the newspapers when he was shopping around with his buddy, Tony Rezko, for real estate in a wealthy section of Chicago?
These are not questions one has to wonder about. These are situations which are obviously damning, for which Obama should be disqualified to run for anything, for the presidency of the country or even for head of sanitation in Chicago. Why is the media muted, yet anyone can dig through the morgue of various newspapers in Chicago and uncover the same information provided here? This is not a secret. It is a demonstration of the publics willingness to ignore the obvious and the facts in favor of an idea which is as nebulous and ephemeral as this cult of personality around which Obama's handlers base their campaign. It isn't substance.
Obama got his discounted dream house and empty lot next door to the Rezkos and an empty lot.
Rezko raised more money for Obama than is known. The declared amount keeps changing also as it is increased with each additional charge disclosed in those court cases. Obama is carrying more baggage now from the Tony Rezko law suits than is carried in a fleet of 747s.
Obama said, in retrospect, his dealings with Rezko were a mistake. BUT why then were they conducted at the same time Rezko was being sued and the records of those law suits were public and amply reported on in the Chicago press? That Obama should not know anything is as incredulous as his not being aware of Wright's anti-American rants in church. Everyone else heard them. Oprah quit the church years ago because of them. BUT, Obama considered him like an uncle and would not distance himself until it became politically necessary.
The lot purchased by Rezko for Obama occurred at the very SAME TIME that creditors were seeking over $10 million in defrauded money from Rezko. One must wonder also why (1) Rezko would be buying real estate at that time and (2) why he would be buying real estate for Obama - and (3) why Obama would even be dealing with him - when all of this was not a secret?
And as they were finishing up their real estate deals together, Obama and Rezko; at the very same time, as reported by Mike McIntire and Christopher Drew (March 2, 2008), "As Developer Heads to Trial, Questions Linger Over a Deal With Obama" in the Trib: (in 2005) "Mr. Rezko was fighting to keep lenders and investors at bay over defaulted loans and failing business ventures. But he side-stepped that financial dragnet by arranging for the land to be bought in his wife's name, making it the only property she owned by herself, according to land records...As a result, when the Obamas bought part of the land from Mrs. Rezko seven months later to widen their yard, the money they paid was beyond the reach of Mr. Rezko's creditors, including one conducting a court-ordered hunt for his assets to recover a $3.5 million debt."
As to Rezko's purchase, it was not pursued because it cost more than the money it took to buy the property. Wonder who counseled Rezko? It would take a lawyer who know enough about the law to shield Rezko from following through on the litigation. Since the other person in the deal (Obama) was also a lawyer, need we ask who would be advising Rezko - especially since the benefits would accrue to both of them?
Again from McIntire and Drew, "Two lawyers involved in the civil litigation against Mr. Rezko said they believed that the property was subject to possible seizure on the premise that Mr. Rezko had been trying to hide behind his wife, Rita, who had little money of her own to complete the $625,000 purchase...The lawyers, both of whom requested anonymity because they did not have their clients' permission to speak about the cases, said there was little purpose in pursuing it because the legal costs would have outweighed the value of the property, which was encumbered by a $500,000 mortgage."
Obama said he did nothing wrong. But he did use the law to benefit Rezko and Michelle and Barack Obama. So who would prosecute a legal action against them? When you got money and you are slick Willy you can drive right up to the edge and not fall off. A lawyer often has a license to steal. They know all the angles. And this is the guy who might be president?
One Hand Washes Another
Remember Obama's friend, Alexi Giannoulias? Obama supported him to become the Illinois State Treasure. Alexi was a 29 year old Democrat who had never before held government office - who would be put in charge of billions of dollars in state funds.
Greg Hinz in Crain's Chicago Business (March 13, 2006) wrote, "...Broadway Bank financed property used for a gun store so notorious that it was sued by Mayor Richard M. Daley and finally shut down by federal authorities. Or how the bank lent money to a crime figure convicted of running a national prostitution ring to buy land in Florida. Not to mention the Texas lawsuit that contends Mr. Giannoulias and the bank "extorted'' a nearly $100,000 loan fee. And the $5,000 campaign donation Mr. Giannoulias returned after revelations that the donor bought a fleet of gambling boats from a group including indicted Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff."
Also from the article:
(quote)
According to official property records, Broadway Bank made a series of mortgage loans for as much as $400,000 between 2001 and 2004 to Ugur Yildiz for land at 3309-3315 N. Mannheim Road in Franklin Park. That's where Bell's Gun & Sport Shop Inc. has operated since at least the mid-1990s. State records list Mr. Yildiz as the incorporator and agent for the company that owned the business.
Bell's was sued by the city of Chicago in 1998 over allegations that hundreds of its firearms ended up in the hands of criminals. Though the suit was dismissed, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) revoked its license last fall because of "serious inventory bookkeeping errors,'' says an ATF spokesman. "There's no denying they sold a large amount of guns that were acquired in criminal investigations,'' he adds. New owners since have taken over.
Mr. Giannoulias says the bank loaned money for "property. We didn't finance a gun shop. . . .We would never finance a gun shop.'' Mr. Giannoulias adds that the loan may have been handled by his father or brother before he returned to the bank full time in 2002 after law school.
Mr. Giannoulias and a spokesman confirm that the bank made mortgage loans to Michael Giorango for land in Florida and an office building on North Broadway just up the block from the bank. According to the FBI, Mr. Giorango was convicted in 2004 of helping run a nationwide ring of brothels and on bookmaking charges in 1988.
Mr. Giannoulias says he cannot provide details of those transactions because of confidentiality laws, but adds that his brother handles most of the bank's out-of-state deals, which collectively amount to about half its $600-million portfolio.
In a civil suit in federal court in Dallas, Mr. Giannoulias personally and the bank are accused of misleading a developer there into paying $98,500 for what he thought would be a 2% fee for a $4.7-million construction loan. The loan never was made and the bank kept what it now says is a "non-refundable'' fee, according to the suit.
Mr. Giannoulias denies the plaintiffs' allegations and calls the matter a business dispute involving one of the bank's thousands of customers, and he notes that a more extensive version of the suit was withdrawn.
As reported by the Daily Herald, Mr. Giannoulias in February returned a $5,000 campaign contribution he got in December from Florida gambling cruise ship operator Spiros Naos. Mr. Naos, who has non-gambling loans with the bank, acquired the ships out of bankruptcy from lobbyist Mr. Abramoff's group. It earlier had purchased them from Mr. Naos' uncle, who was shot dead gangland-style shortly after that sale.
(end quote)
Alexi Giannoulias was sworn in as the Illinois State Treasurer ... the first Democrat to hold the office in 12 years. And one hand washes another.
Banker Alexi Giannoulias -- the Democratic nominee for state treasurer -- is accused of approving a $1 million loan to an 86-year- old mentally incompetent woman whose "business partners" have been suspected of fraud in the past." (Steve Patterson, Chicago Sun-Times - June 16, 2006)
"The third son of Greek immigrants who founded Chicago's Broadway Bank and made it one of the top-returning financial institutions in the state, Mr. Giannoulias knows how to look out for himself. He was a top basketball player at Boston University and on a Greek professional team before returning to America to get a law degree from Tulane University and joining the bank staff. Along the way, he found time to help elect U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who returned the favor when Mr. Giannoulias defeated the party organization's choice for treasurer in the 2006 Democratic primary." [Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business - November 5, 2007]
"In March (2006), Giannoulias said Broadway Bank "never financed any casinos. We never did anything like that." But newly obtained records show that $3.6 million of the recent loans were used by Giorango and another convicted felon to acquire a casino boat marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C." (Rick Pearson and David Jackson, Chicago Tribune - April 13, 2006)
"Obama played a major role in Giannoulias' victory in the March primary. He endorsed Giannoulias and appeared in TV campaign ads promoting Giannoulias over his primary challenger, Knox County State's Atty. Paul Mangieri, the slated candidate of the state Democratic Party. Giannoulias was an early supporter of Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate bid." (Tribune)
Hank Roth
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Today is Friday May 18, 2012
Hank Roth (on the Internet since 1982)