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BY MIKE ROBINSON
AP Legal Affairs Writer | Friday, February 08, 2008 | (No comments posted.)
CHICAGO | Gov. Rod Blagojevich's chief fundraiser has arranged to get a loan from the same Iraqi billionaire whose $3.5 million payment got another member of the governor's inner circle thrown in jail.
Christopher Kelly, head of Blagojevich's campaign fund in both of his races for governor and now under federal indictment, pledged all of his shares in a Nevada land partnership as collateral in exchange for the loan, according to state records reviewed by The Associated Press.
The loan came from General Mediterranean Holdings, a company based in Luxembourg and headed by Nadhmi Auchi, a London-based Iraqi who is currently appealing a fraud conviction in France.
"I don't want to comment," Kelly's defense attorney, Michael D. Monico, said after conferring with the south suburban roofing contractor.
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a major campaign fundraiser for Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama who is facing a federal fraud trial next month, was jailed Jan. 28 after prosecutors said a $3.5 million payment from Auchi showed he had access to overseas money that could enable him to flee.
Records filed with the Illinois secretary of state's office five days earlier show that Kelly received a loan from Auchi. The records do not reflect the size or terms of the loan.
According to the records, the loan was secured by all of Kelly's interest in 640 Across I, a Nevada limited liability company. Kelly is one of five partners in the company, according to records on file at the Nevada secretary of state's office. The four others are Nevada residents.
Kelly and Rezko were two key members of Blagojevich's inner circle who were with him, raising funds, when he first set out to run for governor.
Although both Kelly and Rezko are under federal indictment, Blagojevich has been charged with no wrongdoing. His administration, however, has been under federal investigation for several years.
Kelly is charged with impeding and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service. Prosecutors say he made millions of dollars in bets with a Chicago-area bookie and at Las Vegas casinos, and paid off his losses with money from his roofing company, booking them as business expenses.
Kelly was at one time the governor's point man on gambling issues. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Rezko is charged with scheming to shake down companies seeking money management business from the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, the $30 billion fund that pays the pensions of teachers outside Chicago. He is being held pending a trial scheduled to begin March 3.
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