Raghuveer Nayak sentencing Thursday January 23, 2014, Blagojevich Obama fundraiser, Convicted of bribery, 19 count indictment, Chicago pay to play politics
Why did Patrick Fitzgerald and the US Justice Department wait until December 2008 to arrest Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells
“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich
“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren
From NBC Chicago January 23, 2014.
“Department of Justice spokesman Randall Samborn said Wednesday’s proceedings were part of a two-day evidentiary hearing. They’ll continue Thursday. Nayak may or may not be sentenced at the end of the day Thursday.
A Chicago-area businessman convicted of bribery was scheduled to learn Wednesday whether he’ll get time in jail for his role in the corruption scandal involving former Illinoig Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Raghuveer Nayak wasn’t charged in the case of the now-imprisoned former governor but is alleged to have offered to raise $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign if he named then-Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.
A government court filing says the sentencing judge should consider those allegations, arguing that Nayak “corrupted the political process.””
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From Citizen Wells June 26, 2012.
“A longtime friend of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.who was at the center of a Senate seat scandal that sent ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to prison was arrested Wednesday in his own federal fraud case, accused of bribing doctors to send patients to his surgical centers.
Raghuveer Nayak, a wealthy businessman and former campaign fundraiser for both politicians, was indicted on charges he secretly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to physicians from 2000 to 2010 to have patients referred to Rogers Park One Day Surgery Center, Lakeshore Surgery Center and other Chicago-area facilities he owned.
The investigation of his businesses had hung over Nayak’s head for years, and his lawyer, Thomas McQueen, said the charges were not unexpected. “He knew this had never gone away,” McQueen said after the FBI arrested his client at Nayak’s Oak Brook home.”
“The indictment of Nayak is seen as one of the final offshoots of the sweeping federal investigation known as Operation Board Games, which in addition to Blagojevich led to convictions of fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, formerAld. Edward Vrdolyak, Republican power broker William Cellini and others. One of the final sentences in cases connected to that probe could be handed down as soon as next week, when political insider turned federal witness Stuart Levine is expected to learn his punishment.”
“Nayak’s businesses have over the years needed the approval of state regulators and auditors, and Nayak became a big campaign bundler and contributor, donating more than $779,000 to elected officials including Blagojevich, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Obama from the late 1990s until his name surfaced in the Blagojevich scandal.”
Citizen WElls 