Was $100K to Patti Blagojevich tied to state biz?
SCRUTINY | Realty commissions, contracts not linked, says gov's spokesman
A Chicago developer and donor to Gov. Blagojevich steered more than $100,000 in commissions to first lady Patti Blagojevich's real estate firm before a business owned by the developer's parents saw dramatic increases in state payments.
Virgil Tiran's real estate ties to the governor's wife are coming to light as federal investigators scrutinize her relationships with real estate clients, including recently convicted former gubernatorial fund-raiser Tony Rezko.
(Robert A. Davis/Sun-Times)
Patti Blagojevich's company, River Realty, listed dozens of condominium units Tiran and various partners had been developing throughout the city's North and Northwest sides between 2001 and 2004, real estate records show. River Realty sold 17 units between August 2001 and April 2002, allowing the firm to get an estimated $108,000 in commissions.
In 2002, before Blagojevich took office, the state paid Tiran's parents' home-care company for the developmentally disabled, Diane Home Care, $183,000. In 2003, during the governor's first year in office, the payments increased to $325,000. Last year, Diane Home Care did $1.1 million in state business through a contract with the Human Services Department.
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero denied any suggestion of pay-to-play politics in the firm's spike in business, which the administration attributed to the firm's good track record and ability to serve a higher volume of clients.
Patti Blagojevich "has been in the real estate business for many years -- long before becoming first lady -- and has developed a number of personal relationships just as other real estate professionals do," Guerrero said. "Her various clients engaged in her services because of her credentials, abilities and her skills. To suggest otherwise does a disservice to Mrs. Blagojevich and other political spouses everywhere who chose to pursue their own careers."
Tiran declined to comment. His lawyer did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment.
It was unclear to what degree, if any, Tiran's dealings with Patti Blagojevich are part of the feds' probe into Illinois' first family.
Earlier this month, the Sun-Times reported about FBI agents interviewing people who worked on a Blagojevich home rehab project that was overseen by a Rezko company. Rezko was convicted in June of wide-ranging fraud involving Blagojevich's administration, and prosecutors have disclosed they're in talks with Rezko about becoming a federal witness.
Sources who spoke to the Sun-Times on condition of anonymity said agents had asked questions about Patti Blagojevich's real estate dealings with Rezko. The work got under way in July 2003 -- about six months after the governor began accepting Rezko's recommendations to place people on state boards and about eight months after Patti Blagojevich landed a $47,000 commission from a Rezko land deal.
Tiran and companies he's associated with gave $20,525 to the governor's campaign fund from March 2001 to August 2006.
A business partner of Tiran's, Beny Garneata, was among 15 people charged in May in a federal bribery probe of the city's Buildings and Zoning departments. Garneata is fighting those charges, which aren't connected to his business relationship with Tiran.
In 2006, Tiran paid $150,000 to settle two civil lawsuits filed by the city of Chicago that alleged he illegally built condominium units in the Logan Square neighborhood.