Decoding Rezko: Breaking down his pending trial
ABC'S OF THE CASE | The alphabet soup that might spell trouble for the onetime power broker
Tony Rezko goes on trial March 3 in a complicated corruption case that centers on allegations of influence-peddling in Gov. Blagojevich’s administration.
The case, which has drawn national attention because of Rezko’s long ties to Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, centers on a string of alleged kickback schemes. Some of the people involved, prosecutors say, wanted a cut of the billions of dollars invested by the state Teachers’ Retirement System, the pension plan for all public schoolteachers outside Chicago.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times file)
PHOTO GALLERY
Linked to Rezko
The trial will feature a tangled web of players. A few have pleaded guilty, including Stuart Levine, Joseph Cari and Steven Loren. They likely will testify against Rezko.
Nearly three dozen other people are somehow involved in Rezko’s prosecution, but none of them is facing criminal charges in the case. So far, prosecutors have identified them only by letters of the alphabet in a 78-page court filing that spells out the allegations against Rezko.
Who are those people? And why are they part of the Rezko case?
These are most of the names behind those letters, sources familiar with the case told the Sun-Times, along with the number of times each is referenced. Also included are quotes from the document that describe their involvement. Read the full text at suntimes.com.
Names in italics and brackets were added by the Sun-Times to help readers identify the individuals named by prosecutors.
Read the entire 78-page court filing that outlines the charges against Tony Rezko.
"At the beginning of the flight, Levine thanked Public Official A [Blagojevich] for reappointing him to the Planning Board. Public Official A responded that Levine should only talk with 'Tony' [Rezko] or [Co-Schemer B] [Christopher G. Kelly] about the board, 'but you stick with us and you will do very well for yourself.' ''
"Co-Schemer A [Cellini] . . . had a significant interest in a real estate asset management firm that had a long-standing business relationship with TRS [the Teachers' Retirement System], and established effective control over the TRS board."
"Co-Schemer B [Kelly] was a business associate of Rezko's who was also heavily involved in Illinois state politics as a fund-raiser for Public Official A [Blagojevich].''
"Levine approached Co-Schemer C [Pekin] and asked whether Co-Schemer C would be willing to split any finder's fee that Co-Schemer C would earn from Investment Firm 1 [Glencoe Capital].''
"Co-Schemer C [Pekin] received a $375,000 finder's fee from Investment Firm 1 [Glencoe Capital], and gave $250,000 of that money to Individual D [Aramanda] at the direction of Levine and Rezko. ... [$10,000 of that money] . . . was used to make a political contribution in Individual D's name to a political candidate [Sen. Barack Obama]."
"Levine and Co-Schemer E [Weinstein] had agreed that Co-Schemer E would collect fees from Co-Schemer C [Pekin] for Levine's benefit.''
"Rezko owed Co-Schemer F [Hannon] and Co-Schemer F's wife, Individual Y [Fortunee Massuda], millions of dollars. . . . Co-Schemer F and Rezko had previously had several discussions related to finder's fees and consulting work for the State of Illinois.''
"Rezko, Individual G [Winter], Levine and Loren talked at different times about how Individual G could find investment companies that TRS would invest in.''
"Co-Schemer B [Kelly] said that Individual G [Winter] could not be named as the consultant for Investment Firm 5 [Sterling Partners] because he shared an office with Rezko and because of Rezko's relationship with the Public Official A [Blagojevich]. Individual G suggested that Individual H's name be used instead of his, and Co-Schemer B and Rezko agreed to this arrangement.''
"Levine arranged with Co-Schemer I, who had arranged to receive a finder's fee from Investment Firm 6 [Investors Mortgage Holdings] for investments in Illinois state pension funds, that Co-Schemer I would share 2/3 of the fees that he received as Levine directed.''
"Levine acted to stall the allocation, and planned with Rezko to approach Individual J [Rosenberg], a principal of Investment Firm 7 [Capri Capital], with a choice: if Individual J wanted to get the $220 million (in state pension funds) for Investment Firm 7, he was either going to have to make a $1.5 million donation to Public Official A [Blagojevich] or pay Levine a 1% fee (which would be shared with Rezko).''
"Two individuals referred to in Levine's plea agreement (Individuals K [Kjellander] and L [Sorensen] . . . were not referred to in this filing."
"Individual M [Cavanagh] had a close relationship with Co-Schemer A [Cellini], and had assisted Co-Schemer A and Levine in maintaining control at TRS in the past.''
"Co-Schemer A [Cellini] described to Levine how he pressured Individual J [Rosenberg] as part of the scheme by describing how Individual N [Bauman] called Levine the 'Rabbi' and Co-Schemer A the 'Pope,' which reflected the influence they had with Individual N.''
"Rezko told Individual O [Hayden] to move Levine's re-appointment along and said that he had already talked to Individual P [Monk] . . . Individual P gave Individual O the approval to re-appoint Levine to the TRS Board.''
"Both Individual Q [Abboud] and Individual R [Carriglio] confirmed to Levine that Rezko had told them to do as Levine directed.''
"Levine instructed Individual Q [Abboud] and Individual R [Carriglio] how they needed to vote for the various Committee Chair positions in the Board elections, including that Individual S [Bruner], another trustee who was allied with Levine and Co-Schemer A [Cellini], should be elected as Chair of the Investment Committee.''
"Rezko later told Levine that Individual T [Mell] would not be involved, but that Levine should go ahead with the deal because someone else could be chosen to split the finder's fee with Co-Schemer C [Pekin]."
"Bank records show that Rezko arranged to pay Individual U approximately $25,000 a month from a variety of sources, including the $50,000 that Individual U got from Individual D [Aramanda] in March 2004.''
"Individual V [Evans] also talked to Co-Schemer C [Pekin] and Levine about the possibility that other state pension funds . . . would invest in Investment Firm 1 [Glencoe Capital] or Investment Firm 3 [Stockwell Partners]."
"Levine indicated to [Joseph A.] Cari that Levine needed to give Individual W [McCall] the name of the finder that Investment Firm 4 [JER Partners] should contact, and Cari agreed to pass on the information.''
"Co-Schemer F [Hannon] and Levine discussed the urgency to get Investment Firm 4 [JER Partners] to sign the consulting contract with Individual X.''
"Rezko had helped appoint Individual Y [Massuda] to the planning board and Individual Y was a member of Rezko's voting bloc on the Planning Board.''
"Rezko later told Individual Z [Mahru] that $500 million of TRS money was being earmarked for their company. . . . "
"Levine initially heard about Investment Firm 6 [Investors Mortgage Holdings] from Individual AA and they discussed using Levine's influence at TRS to help Investment Firm 6 receive an investment.''
"Co-Schemer A [Cellini] said that Individual J [Rosenberg] had just told him that he had spoken with Individual BB [Davis], that Individual BB had admitted that he had been asked by Rezko and Co-Schemer B [Kelly] about who could raise funds for Public Official A [Blagojevich] from the state pension systems, and that Individual BB had volunteered Individual J's name.''
"Levine described how Rezko said that Individual J [Rosenberg] would 'have a choice . . . you can raise a million and a half dollars for the fund raiser in June [for Public Official A (Blagojevich)] or you can work out something' with [Individual CC].''
"Individual DD [Beck] also described how he talked to Rezko about how the Planning Board should vote on certain projects, and that Individual DD would tell the other four members of Rezko's bloc how Rezko wanted them to vote.''
"The other three individuals who would vote as Rezko wished were Individual Y [Massuda], Individual EE [Almanaseer] and Individual FF [Malek].''
"Rezko and Levine talked about a sixth Planning Board member, Individual GG, who they wanted to vote with the rest of Rezko's voting bloc.''
"Individual HH [Chipparoni] indicated that he worked on behalf of Hospital B [Vista Health]. . . ."
"Investment Firm 5 [Sterling Partners] did not meet the standards of the investments that TRS usually made, but pressure was put on TRS Staffer A [Parrish] to hurry the Investment Firm 5 application review process and to approve it.''
"Hospital A [Children's Memorial], was contemplating whether to make a major renovation of its existing hospital in Chicago, or to build a new hospital.''
"The FBI's interview of Levine on May 20, 2004 prevented Levine from taking any further steps to seek a kickback from either Hospital A [Children's Memorial] or Hospital B [Vista Health],'' which needed state approval for a building project.
Investment Firm 1 (29): Glencoe Capital
Investment Firm 2 (32): LLR Partners
Investment Firm 3 (31): Stockwell Capital
Investment Firm 4 (60): JER Partners
Investment Firm 5 (34): Sterling Partners
Investment Firm 6 (44): Investors Mortgage Holdings
Investment Firm 7 (30): Capri Capital
Investment Firm 8 (1): ?
Investment Firm 9 (16): Senior Lifestyle Corp.
Investment Firm 10 (21): Healthpoint Capital