Obama money-man in court
06/03/2008 21:58  - (SA)  

Obama hits back at Hillary No bail for Obama money-man Obama backs off 'graft donor'

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Chicago - Federal prosecutors focused a spotlight on the underside of Illinois politics on Thursday, telling jurors that a prolific fundraiser who lavished donations on Barack Obama and others peddled his clout to corrupt state government.

Antoin "Tony" Rezko, 52, who doled out campaign money to Obama, Governor Rod Blagojevich and many other Illinois politicians, is accused of engineering a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme with a member of two state boards.

Assistant attorney Carrie E Hamilton said in the government's opening statement: "(It's) a system built on a foundation of public trust, trust in a very small group of people to make a decision for the greater good. This is a case about the violation of that trust."

Companies hoped to invest pension money

Blagojevich's name came up less than five minutes into Hamilton's statement, which highlighted hefty financial contributions to the Democratic governor's campaign and Rezko's apparent influence on state board appointments.

"The administration took his recommendations very seriously and more often than not, if he gave them a name, they wound up on a state board," Hamilton said.

Prosecutors say Rezko's alleged scheme called on companies hoping to invest state teacher pension money or build hospital expansions to make kickbacks or contributions to the Blagojevich campaign or see their plans shelved.

Joined millionaire attorney

Neither Blagojevich nor Obama has been charged with wrongdoing, and the presidential hopeful's name is expected to be mentioned only briefly if at all at the trial expected to take three to four months.

Rezko freely admits his role as one of the most prominent political fundraisers in the state. But he firmly denies taking part in any scheme to shake down companies seeking to do business with Illinois.

Prosecutors, however, say he joined with millionaire attorney Stuart Levine to operate just such a scheme. Levine sat on two key state boards - one governing which firms invested teachers' pension money and the other deciding which hospitals could proceed with expansion plans.

Prosecutors say Rezko supplied the clout to make the plan work.

Levine has pleaded guilty and is expected to be the star witness as federal prosecutors build their case.

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