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Alexi Giannoulias’ (D CAND, IL-SEN) bank loaned 20 million to convicted felons.

Yes, *after* they were convicted.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  April 5th, 2010 at 06:00 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

April Fools! – Only, the joke’s on Democratic primary voters.

The family bank of Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias loaned a pair of Chicago crime figures about $20 million during a 14-month period when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, according to a Tribune examination that provides new details about the bank’s relationship with the convicted felons.

Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them.

Alexi Giannoulias took a senior position at the bank at about the same time and used it as a launching pad for his political career. But as he campaigns to step up from state treasurer to the U.S. Senate, he has tried to distance himself from the bank’s business with the pair and has been reluctant to detail his role.

(More here, here, and here) I can’t imagine why Mister Giannoulias would be reluctant to explain why the bank that his family treated as a three-time cookie jar was off giving multimillion dollar loans to people who were going to jail on bookmaking and prostitution charges. I mean, doesn’t everybody enable bad loans for convicted bookies and pimps?

No, wait: I’ve never heard that Mark Kirk has done that. I can just see the bumper sticker now: Kirk ’10. No need for pimps.* You heard it here first...

Moe Lane

*I swear, writing election slogans for Illinois Republicans is the easiest thing in the world. Bill Brady? Not part of the Blagojevich administration! At all! Jason Plummer? I don’t pull knives on women. Bobby Schilling? I can tell the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence apart.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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COMMENTS

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  • archer52

    Of course the guy lent money to organized crime. And then thought nothing of it to the point where he was going to run for public office.

    Honestly, name a more corrupt city. How bad is it? A cop buddy of mine was from that area and told me this story- In Chicago the best patrol duty to have is downtown traffic detail. It is so coveted that when an officer is leaving (usually retirement) a bidding war starts with other cops trying to buy his support. (He almost always gets to name his replacement.) Prices can reach up to ten grand, which goes in the pocket of the officer.

    You think “ten grand!” that’s a lot of money and it is, but the traffic detail is a cash cow. Apparently, according to my buddy, the whole deal is if you want to double park or park illegally you have to pay off the cop on patrol, or you’ll get your car towed. Twenty bucks in the pocket is a whole lot cheaper than a tow bill. I was amazed, how could you be so blatant and not get into trouble. He said, “That’s not the half of it.” He went on to tell me about one incident when the FBI was tailing an organized crime boss. The boss drove downtown, got out and paid the cop to double park. The FBI double parks, agents get out to go on foot surveillance and the cop says. “You can’t park here.” The agents flash the badge and say they are with the FBI. The cop says, “I don’t care if you are the Pope himself, you have to pay.” The FBI had to give the officer cash so their FBI issued car wouldn’t get towed.

    Now that’s ballsy. Of course I took the story with a grain of salt, until I saw this bunch in the White House come out of the Chicago woodwork. I’m more inclined to believe the story now.

  • mriggio

    As a matter of fact, the original Mayor Daley (the one they called duh Mare, not Little Richie, who sounds just like Mickey Mouse on the radio…) signed my (long form) birth certificate back when he was the county clerk…

    Based on my recollection of cop friends from back then, I’d tend to believe your buddy. Some things never change. Cheers!

  • jcincy

    Alexi Giannoulias appears to primed for a number of positions within the present administration. I heard this morning there’s even a seat on the Supreme Court opening up. He sounds like the type the Dems would put at the top of the short list.

  • proudgop

    happen?

    I fear any day they will drop him and put another Dem on ballot

    They should make Illinois Democrat party pay for the cost of the primaries

  • merryj1

    I can see the beat cop not allowing the G-man to park, but he would know a shake-down would likely force the FBI detail to make it official — and the FBI does not pass up an opportunity to leak a guaranteed headline story. I doubt that ever happened.

    There have long (30+ years that I know of) been rumors of high “price tags” for (undeserved) promotions — $X amount to make Srgt, etc., but a Ten Grand price tag for a foot-patrol beat? Shaking down citizens isn’t legit, even in Chicago, and very few cops would solicit a bribe, it just isn’t that blatant. In the 1960′s, no small number of people carried their driver’s license with a $10-bill paper-clipped to the back of it. If stopped for speeding or whatever, they’d hand it over and, if the cop was on the take, he’d hand the license back sans the sawbuck; if not, he’d tell the driver to “remove attachments” then write the ticket.

  • Tbone

    Why, the only people more likely to be able to repay are people with government defense contracts.

  • southernilpat

    To the vast majority of Chicago voters it just won’t matter. They will troop to the polls and vote how they are told, just like always. Illinois’ only hope is if enough downstate voters wake up and go to the polls.

  • merryj1

    Easter dinner yesterday was at my daughter’s. My son-in-law’s mom was also there, and she “wanted me to be the first to know” that she is not voting for Giannoulias! Shocker? You bet! She still supports Obama — she’s very active in her teacher’s union and a knee-jerk supporter of any/every Democrat (I’m under orders to not talk about politics when that side of the family is present).

    She said she’s voting for Mark Kirk (we’ll see in November if she can bring herself to pull an “R” lever — even a mushy “R.”

  • IJB

    Which is why Giannoulias is primed to lose IMO – winning Chicago isn’t enough: Dems need to win the ‘Collar’ too.

    But Giannoulias is just so dang corrupt, I don’t see him winning the suburbs, which is why I think Kirk is the next Senator from IL (baring a ‘Toricelli’-type maneuver, but this year I think a stunt like that would blow up in IL Dems’ faces anyway).

    The best part is, I think Giannoulias will actually hurt Quinn as well, which will help Brady. There’s actually a decent chance that the GOP will win *every* ‘Rust Belt’ Governorship that’s up this year, even MN & WI!!

  • southernilpat

    I’m not a big fan of Kirk’s, but he does have the advantage of being familiar to the suburbanites. So he might win – but a Napervillian who would vote for Kirk wouldn’t necessarily extend that vote to downstater Brady.

    The best thing we have going for us is this is an off year election. We are energized and they are not.

  • DavidS1787

    Rep.Phil Hare D-IL 15

    Hare and Giannoulias both need to be defeated!

    I hope the people of ILLINOIS will start paying attention to what their Representatives are doing ! I believe the that half of Illinois think their congress person or Senator are doing a good job because they don’t hear anything bad about them comming out o Washington,D.C. and keep voting for him or her!

    The other half probably believes that their vote don’tcount, so they stay home!

    It’s time to tell all of ILLINOIS wake up! Vote!

  • DavidS1787

    and the letter b before illinos shouldn’t be there.

    Sorry.

  • DavidS1787

    and the letter b before illinos shouldn’t be there.

    Sorry.