Oak Brook doctor at center of Blago probe

An Oak Brook doctor is the latest name attached to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's growing corruption scandal.

According to published reports, Raghu Nayak was a central figure behind the effort to secure President-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat for U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. by promising Blagojevich $1 million in campaign contributions. Jackson has denied any knowledge of the effort.

Attempts to contact Nayak were unsuccessful Friday. A guard at his gated neighborhood in Oak Brook said Nayak was "not seeing anyone today."

Nayak has been a Democratic delegate at the past two national conventions. In August, he told the Daily Herald that Blagojevich could win a third term despite the governor's sagging approval ratings.

"I think he has done a very good job, even though he has not gotten a lot of credit for it," Nayak said at the time.

He was a Hilary Clinton delegate at the most recent Democratic National Convention.

According to federal and state campaign finance disclosure reports, Nayak and his wife have donated nearly $200,000 to various local, state and federal candidates since 1994. Jackson received more than $20,000 through donations from Nayak, his wife and Nayak's businesses, the reports show. Nayak owns several medical operations on Chicago's north side. Nayak also contributed $1,000 to Chicago Ward 7 Alderman Sandi Jackson's campaign coffers in 2007. Sandi Jackson is Jesse Jackson Jr.'s wife.

The DuPage County couple are equal-opportunity contributors. While most of their donations went to Democratic candidates, records also show donations to Republicans including former Gov. Jim Edgar, President Bush as well as 2008 Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and John McCain.