Oct 19, 2006 6:45 pm US/Central
Governor's Fundraiser Pleads Not Guilty
Antoin Rezko Was Arrested At O'Hare Thursday Afternoon
CBS 2's Mike Parker contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
A fundraiser and political confidant for
Gov. Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges that he swindled the General Electric Capital Corp. out of $10.5 million in loans to a pizza restaurant company.
Antoin "Tony" Rezko, 51, also is charged in a separate indictment with working with millionaire campaign contributor Stuart Levine to squeeze investment firms seeking state business for kickbacks. A hearing on those charges was set for 5 p.m.
In the pizza-restaurants case, the federal judge set Rezko's bond at $1.5 million.
The governor's top fundraiser was arrested without incident by FBI agents after arriving from Syria at
O'Hare International Airport earlier Thursday on charges of fraud and extortion.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports Rezko could wind up a key witness against Blagojevich.
An indictment against Rezko was unsealed last week. He appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras to answer charges that he fraudulently obtained $10 million in loans from General Electric Capital Corp.
The indictment unsealed last week also charges Rezko with swindling investors in two pizza restaurants.
Rezko is charged in a separate indictment with working with millionaire campaign contributor Stuart Levine to squeeze investment firms seeking state business for kickbacks.
Rezko was out of the country and failed to show up for arraignment on the charges on Friday and there was speculation as to whether he would come back to Chicago this week. The government said it believed that he had been overseas.
His attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, asked U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel for an extension so Rezko could appear.
Rezko, 51, of
Wilmette, is named in a 24-count federal indictment accusing him of taking part in an elaborate scheme to shake down companies doing business of the state.
Rezko had a spot in the front row at the last inauguration, when he was advising Rod Blagojevich on sensitive appointments to powerful state jobs. First Lady Patti Blagojevich was a Rezko business partner for about a decade, receiving more than $38,000 in real estate commissions from him in 2004.
A native of Syria who founded multiple companies here, Rezko was reportedly traveling in Europe and the Middle East for several months recently. And more than $25,000 in property taxes on his huge North Shore mansion have not been paid. This is not the first time Rezko's been late paying his huge property tax bill. He was 16 days late last March.
Mike Parker will have a full update on this story on the CBS 2 News at 6PM tonight.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
