Apr 8, 2006 7:38 pm US/Central
Treasurer Candidate: Loans Were Business Only
Bank Owned By Fanily Alexi Giannoulias Negotiated Loans For Bookmaker; Giannoulias Says He Had No Say
CHICAGO (AP) ―
The Democratic candidate for Illinois treasurer says the loans a bank owned by his family made to a Chicago organized crime figure were strictly business decisions he had no say in.
Alexi Giannoulias said his brother, Broadway Bank chief financial officer Demetris Giannoulias, negotiated the multimillion-dollar loans for Michael Giorango, a convicted bookmaker and prostitution ring promoter, the Chicago Tribune reported in Sunday's editions.
"If every time someone got arrested the bank threw them out, I think it would be a problem," Alexi Giannoulias said. "We look at the commercial viability of loans, and that's where we make our credit decisions."
The bank lent Giorango $3.6 million in 2002 and $11.8 million in 2005, the Tribune reported.
Giorango and convicted bookmaker Demitri Stavropoulos used the smaller loan to buy a casino boat marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to the paper. Giorango and his business partners used the larger loan to buy a Florida restaurant and finance Cook County properties.
Broadway has made thousands of loans and passed repeated reviews and audits by federal regulators, said Alexi Giannoulias, who defeated Knox County State's Attorney Paul Mangieri for the Democratic nomination.
"We are a safe and sound financial institution. We make good investments and have a good rate of return," he said. "We've got hundreds of people we've helped out. We help our community."
Democratic Party officials backed Mangieri in the primary, going as far as to connect Alexi Giannoulias to Giorango in campaign literature. No one has alleged any illegality in the Broadway Bank loans to Giorango-run company called Highland Park Real Estate Development Corp. Stavropoulos was listed as the company's vice president.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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