Man linked to Rezko charged with fraud
A suburban doctor who is heard on FBI tapes discussing alleged corruption with a key government witness against convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko has been indicted on charges of fraud and lying to the FBI.
Robert J. Weinstein, 62, of North suburban Northbrook and Delray Beach, Fla., was charged in a three-count indictment returned Thursday, as prosecutors pressed ahead with their investigation of corruption in state government.
Rezko, a prominent fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was convicted June 4 of fraud and other offenses, partly on the strength of secretly made FBI tapes of talks between Weinstein and business partner Stuart Levine.
Levine, himself an admitted political fixer and fundraiser, has pleaded guilty in the investigation and now is a key government witness.
In the fresh indictment, Weinstein was charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and lying to an FBI agent when he said Levine never told him about Rezko's political clout.
The indictment says Weinstein was well aware of Rezko's influence in the Blagojevich administration and that during an April 21, 2004, conversation, Levine specifically told him a key vote by the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board was fixed.
Weinstein attorney Vincent J. Connelly was not immediately available for comment.
The new indictment also charges that Levine and Weinstein joined in defrauding two organizations: the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, formerly known as Finch University of Health Sciences/the Chicago Medical School, and the Northshore Support Organization, which Weinstein established in 2001. He said its goal was to support the medical school.
The indictment said that Levine and Weinstein tried to get millions of dollars in payoffs from a developer in return for his development of a property owned by the school west of downtown near various big hospitals.
According to the indictment, the developer was supposed to funnel the money through an unnamed middleman.
The indictment also said that the two men siphoned $6 million out of the support group, leaving behind promissory notes for $3 million each. It said neither man intended to repay the money.