Obama money-man on trial
12/05/2008 21:30  - (SA)  

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Chicago - A long-time friend and fundraiser of presidential hopeful Barack Obama was accused by prosecutors on Monday of using his political clout to demand kickbacks, win government contracts and place associates in key state jobs.

While Obama is not accused of any wrongdoing and has subsequently donated all the money raised by alleged influence-peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko to charity, prosecutors have said that some of the kickbacks ended up in the Illinois Democratic senator's campaign coffers.

Obama is also under fire for entering a land deal with Rezko in 2005 when it was widely known that the real estate developer was under federal scrutiny, something Obama later called a "boneheaded" move.

The Rezko dealings have dogged Obama as he vies for the Democratic presidential nomination but have not yet had a major impact on his campaign.

That could change if Rezko is convicted of 24 counts of fraud, solicitation of bribery, attempted extortion and money laundering.

"This trial is about Tony Rezko's corrupt use of power and influence to benefit himself and his friends," prosecutor Reid Schar said in closing arguments.

Rezko was part of a larger scheme of corruption and pay-to-play politics in the state of Illinois where state jobs and lucrative contracts were traded for campaign contributions and hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks, Schar said.

And Rezko, who was the second largest fundraiser and a key advisor to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, was pulling the strings, Schar told jurors.

"He can get anything done that he wants done," he said of Rezko.

"The defendant is a corrupt insider who schemed with corrupt insiders to benefit himself and his friends."

Rezko did not take the stand during the months-long trial and his defence team did not call any witnesses.

His lawyers have argued that Rezko's chief co-conspirator, Stuart Levine lied about his relationship with Rezko in order to first hold onto power and then to save his own skin when the FBI caught wind of his schemes.

Rezko has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

- AFP

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