Category Archives: Blagojevich

From a Chicago Tribune article dated March 11, 2009:

“The longtime business partner of convicted influence peddler Stuart Levine pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to disclose on his tax return some $3 million he stole from a charity.

Dr. Robert Weinstein, 63, of Northbrook faces 2 to 3 years in prison in connection with a complex fraud scheme in which he and Levine cheated Northshore Supporting Organization, a charity the two controlled. The charity supported the work of the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, which lost a combined $6 million in the scheme. Both men sat on the board of the North Chicago medical school.

Weinstein, a self-described private investor for the last decade, admitted that he understated his income by $3 million on his 2003 tax return when he actually made $9.2 million. Weinstein, who is scheduled to be sentenced on July 1, didn’t agree to cooperate in the federal probe.

Weinstein was indicted last June on charges of wire and mail fraud and making false statements. But last week prosecutors charged him with a single tax fraud count after he agreed to plead guilty.

Levine has become an important government witness in the federal investigation of corruption in the administration of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, providing key testimony at the trial of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a top Blagojevich adviser who was convicted of extorting firms seeking state business.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-weinstein-guilty-plea-11-mar11,0,3203453.story
What the Chicago Tribune has been leaving out is Weinstein’s
link to Obama via Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine as revealed in
the indictment of Dr. Robert Weinstein. The common denominator
is the Illinois Health Planning Facilities Board.

 
“1. At times material to this indictment:
a.
Stuart Levine, a resident of Highland Park, Illinois, was a businessman and a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board (“Planning Board”).
b.
The Planning Board was a commission of the State of Illinois, established by statute, whose nine members were appointed by the Governor of the State of Illinois. State law required an entity seeking to build a hospital, medical office building, or other medical facility in Illinois to obtain a permit, known as a “Certificate of Need” (“CON”), from the Planning Board prior to beginning construction. Issuance of a CON required a majority vote of the Planning Board.
c.
Antoin Rezko, also known as “Tony” Rezko (“Rezko”), a resident of Wilmette, Illinois, was a businessman and a fund-raiser for candidates for elected office.
d.
There was a federal criminal investigation into allegations of mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery, political corruption, and other criminal activities in connection with the operations of certain State of Illinois boards and commissions, including the Planning Board. Among other matters, this investigation concerned the appointment of, control of, and directions given by third parties to members of the boards and commissions. One aspect of this investigation related to Stuart Levine and those associated with him, including Rezko and WEINSTEIN, and to the nature and scope of the business, personal, and financial relationships among and between them. It was material to this investigation to learn whatinfluence Rezko had in connection with the boards’ and commissions’ operations.
2. On or about May 24, 2004, at Chicago, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere, ROBERT J. WEINSTEIN, defendant herein, knowingly and willfully did make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice, an agency of the United States government, in that WEINSTEIN stated to a Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent that Levine never told WEINSTEIN that Rezko had influence over the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, whereas at the time WEINSTEIN made this statement and representation, WEINSTEIN knew the statement and representation was false because, in truth and fact, WEINSTEIN and Levine discussed Rezko’s influence over the Planning Board, including in a recorded conversation on April 21, 2004 in which they discussed Rezko’s involvement in the Planning Board and Levine explicitly advised WEINSTEIN of Rezko’s role in manipulating the Planning Board’s vote earlier that day on the CON application of Mercy Health System Corporation Hospital, as well as other Planning Board matters;
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).”