Rezko in jail for bond violation

A federal judge revoked the bond of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's former chief fundraiser Monday, ruling he misrepresented the state of his finances to her.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve said prosecutors seeking the revocation had amply proven that Antoin "Tony" Rezko violated terms of his bond by showing, among other things, that Rezko had given a Palatine friend almost the exact amount of money that the friend had posted in equity in his two Palatine homes for Rezko's bond. The payment, St. Eve said, effectively meant that the acquaintance, Ed M. Makdah, no longer had any risk if Rezko were to flee.

"I am revoking his bond today and remanding him to the custody of the U.S. marshal," St. Eve said.

Rezko is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 25.

Rezko had been free on $2 million bond in the government's criminal case against him alleging he orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme as Blagojevich's adviser, trading campaign donations for seats on state boards, among other things.

Also concerning St. Eve Monday was the fact that Rezko received a $3.5 million wire from Lebanon in April 2007 from the company of a business partner and used that money for his personal expenses. That, she said, was contrary to what Rezko had sworn to her in January, when he said he had no access to any funds and that his only assets could not be liquidated to provide some.

Joseph Duffy, Rezko's lawyer, argued that he had notified St. Eve that Rezko was restructuring the debt on his investment in a 62-acre parcel at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street in Chicago to pay off some debt. But St. Eve apparently decided that what Rezko did was not just a restructuring of debt, but a transfer of an interest in the property to General Mediterranean Holdings, a company owned by Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi billionaire located in Britain.

Prosecutors alleged Auchi, who was once convicted in France on fraud charges and was thus unable to get a visa for entry to the U.S., asked Rezko in November 2005 to help him get a waiver. Rezko appealed to the U.S. State Department and asked various Illinois government officials, whom prosecutors did not name, to do the same.

Also concerning St. Eve were numerous payments Rezko made to several parties, including a witness in the case and the wife of a fugitive from justice. Duffy maintained the payments were all simply repayments of loans.

Another person Rezko paid money to was Dr. Robert R. Simon, chief of the Bureau of Health for Cook County. Rezko's wife, Rita, is a Cook County employee, and Rezko was the chief fundraiser for the late Cook County Board President John H. Stroger.

"I have known Tony Rezko personally for several years," said Simon in a prepared statement. "He has been a philanthropist to the medical community at large. I provided him with a loan that was solely based upon a personal friendship, and it was repaid to me in full. In retrospect, this action may appear questionable.

"However, on a personal level, I was merely assisting a friend in need. I've always tried to hold myself to the highest ethical standards, both professionally and personally, and I will continue to do so in both my personal and professional life."

The fugitive, prosecutors said, is the brother of "Individual U," an unnamed party who received money from Rezko as part of the criminal case, prosecutors allege.

Individual U's brother was indicted on April 7, 2004, in the Northern District of Illinois on five tax counts and was scheduled to plead guilty but never showed up for court, prosecutors said. A bench warrant was later issued for his arrest.

Court records show the only individual indicted April 7, 2004, on five tax charges was Alber Najjar, and Judge James Holderman later issued a warrant for his arrest.

In the end, said St. Eve, each suspicious receipt and disbursement of money by Rezko may not have been enough on its own to justify revoking his bond, but taken together, prosecutors Reid J. Schar and Christopher Niewoehner had offered more than enough to meet their burden of proof.

St. Eve said it added to the suspicion that Rezko never had the money he received transferred to him directly, but to his wife, his sons and other parties. The wire from Lebanon, prosecutors said, was put into an account controlled by Rezko's civil attorneys at the law firm of Freeborn & Peters.

Duffy, who was notified of Rezko's arrest only Monday morning, asked for a chance to examine the accusations and possibly explain the transactions.

St. Eve granted his request and has scheduled another hearing on the matter today at 2 p.m.