The REZKO Obama knows

BY TIM NOVAK, CHRIS FUSCO, ANDREW HERRMANN, AND STEVE PATTERSON
Convicted political fixer Tony Rezko had a hard time following rules -- even simple ones, like when a federal judge told him: Stay home.

Twice, Rezko violated the home-confinement terms of his bail, formerly sealed court files show, by making "social calls" -- including last September to the home of former top Cook County official Orlando Jones after Jones committed suicide.

» Click to enlarge image

Tony Rezko (right); Orlando Jones (inset).

(Sun-Times files)

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"FBI agents responding to information regarding the suicide of Rezko's associate Orlando Jones were surprised to find Rezko at the Jones home after Jones' suicide. This was not Rezko's only social call," federal prosecutors wrote on Feb. 25, 2008. " . . . it is a further indication that Rezko did not respect the strictures of home confinement.

"Obviously the government has not undertaken, and is not in a position, to determine how many such violations occurred."

Prosecutors never charged Rezko with violating the terms of his home confinement, which generally allowed him to leave his Wilmette home only to go to court and church and to meet with his lawyers.

Rezko's rule-bending became public last week, when U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve unsealed 18 previously secret documents from the federal corruption trial that culminated with his conviction June 4.

Two of those documents already made headlines. One showed that Gov. Blagojevich -- who once relied on Rezko's political fund-raising prowess and advice -- was questioned by federal agents "on multiple occasions" and denied having conversations described in court by two key prosecution witnesses. Another showed prosecutors considered calling witnesses -- but ultimately didn't -- to testify about money Rezko raised for his longtime friend, Sen. Barack Obama.

Other secrets that were hidden in those records:

• • Rezko had a net worth of $53 million in 2003, and his finances were so complicated that he hired several accountants to compile his 111-page federal income-tax return. Today, he's fighting a raft of lawsuits that accuse him of being a deadbeat, including the foreclosure of his mansion.

• • Prosecutors put a value on Rezko's schemes. "The government believes that Rezko's schemes cheated victims out of over $10 million," assistant U.S. attorney Reid Schar wrote in one filing. "Every dollar defendant spends to buy his way out of custody is one less dollar that could be used to repay these victims." Besides the corruption conviction, Rezko still faces trial early next year on business-fraud charges involving his fast-food franchises.

Schar's argument came as Rezko -- then in jail because the judge decided he'd lied about his finances and might flee to his native Syria -- was offering to pay for security to watch him if the judge would release him on bail. St. Eve rejected Rezko's offer but later released him on $8 million bail during his trial.

• • Rezko struck a deal last August with fellow Blagojevich fund-raiser Christopher G. Kelly to settle a $1.7 million debt -- money that Kelly, who is awaiting trial on tax charges related to gambling, had invested in Rezko companies between 2002 and 2006.

In the fall of 2006, Kelly "expressed concern that his investment with Rezko would be a total loss," prosecutors wrote.

The settlement had Rezko giving Kelly a small stake in a 62-acre South Loop site that Rezko was trying to develop. The property is now controlled by Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born billionaire. Kelly got a loan for an undisclosed amount from an Auchi company earlier this year. It's unclear if that's tied to his stake in the South Loop property.

*****
Poor Michael Posner, it looks like he has been upstaged by an even worse lying liar who is profiting from the crime syndicate the Posners built.