Who Am I?
Alexi Giannoulias is Rod Blagojevich's State Treasurer

What I've done for Blagojevich
I bankrolled his convicted felon fundraiser, Tony Rezko - "When Mahru was a partner with Rezko, their company -- Rezmar Corp. -- was helped by Thomas' Carnegie Realty Partners to obtain financing to build a 24-story condominium complex at Chicago and Hudson, a project that ultimately did not get off the ground....The financial institution that backed that deal was Broadway Bank, which is owned by the family of state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias." (Chicago Sun Times, Mole put on Rezko, May 5, 2007))

"According to the May 16 criminal complaint, Rezko bounced $250,000 over five checks at Caesars between March 24 and July 15 of 2006. He also is accused of bouncing four checks on July 13, 2006, at Bally's totaling $200,000...All nine checks, according to the complaint, were drawn on Rezko's account at Chicago's Broadway Bank, which is owned by the family of Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias." (Chicago Daily Herald, Caesars, Bally's, Bellagio They all say Rezko owes them, May 30, 2008)

What Rod Blagojevich has done for me
Rod Blagojevich twice appointed my brother to a state board and reappointed him one month after a $10,000 contribution from my father and after Tony Rezko vouched for him - "State records don't show Demetris Giannoulias as a campaign donor to the governor. But his father, ALEXIS GIANNOULIAS, who passed away this summer, donated $10,000 to Blagojevich on June 29, 2005...Demetris Giannoulias, chief financial officer of Broadway Bank in Chicago - the institution where his father was chairman and his candidate brother is also an officer - was first appointed by Blagojevich in 2004 for a stint that expired in 2005. He was reappointed Sept. 1, 2005, for a term that expires July 21, 2008." - (The State Journal-Register, Blagojevich has twice appointed Giannoulias brother, October 26, 2006)

"'Clout lists' that tracked politically backed job seekers to Gov. Blagojevich's administration have surfaced in the case of indicted businessman Tony Rezko...Rezko also pushed for the appointment of Chicago banker Demetris Giannoulias, brother of Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, to the Illinois Finance Authority board, records show." (Chicago Sun Times, Gov's 'clout lists' surface in Rezko trial, February 22, 2008)

My Performance as Illinois Treasurer
Bright Start, Illinois' college savings program for parents, lost $85 million on my watch - "The State of Illinois' Bright Start College Savings program has been the victim of a gross mismanagement. That's the charge being made by Illinois state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias as he prepares to file a lawsuit against Oppenheimer Funds, seeking to recover $85 million of losses in a bond fund that he alleges was imprudently managed. Thousands of Illinois families suffered huge losses as a result." - (Chicago Sun Times, State wants college fund's $85 mil. back, January 14, 2009)

I chose the fund manager - "After taking office, Treasurer Giannoulias overhauled the $2.2 billion Bright Start program, selecting OppenheimerFunds Inc., through a competitive bid process to manage the program starting last July." - (Giannoulias campaign website, http://www.alexiforillinois.com/node/47)

And I knew there were problems more than six months before I finally took action - "Mr. Giannoulias knew about problems in Bright Start's Core Plus investment fund a full halfyear before he finally stopped throwing money into it.

According to Mr. Giannoulias' office, he e-mailed Oppenheimer on May 6, saying he wanted to discuss Core Plus' underperformance and how to "turn the ship around." But it wasn't until Dec. 4 -- after the credit markets and Core Plus' investments in mortgage-related securities had tanked -- that the office diverted all new contributions from Core Plus to U.S. Treasuries.

By that time, the fund had about completed a year in which the value of what was supposed to be a nest-egg dropped a nifty 38%." - (Greg Hinz Blog, More Questions on Giannoulias' $85-million loss, April 21, 2009)

Luckily, there was enough money left over to buy myself an SUV- "While parents come to grips with major investment losses in a college savings program, public records show that Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias' office spent Bright Start proceeds to buy a $26,000 SUV he uses as his state car.

The purchase is surfacing as the politically ambitious Giannoulias continues to face criticism for his oversight of the Bright Start investment program, which lost $85 million last year.

It's the first time since the program was launched nearly a decade ago that money from it was used to buy a state vehicle, the treasurer's office acknowledged." - (Chicago Tribune, Bright Start funds used for new SUV, May 4, 2009)

My other friends
I approved $12 million in loans to Michael "Jaws" Giorango, a reputed mob figure, convicted bookmaker and prostitution promoter - "Earlier, Giannoulias also had tried to distance himself from the loans, saying they occurred in the 1990s, when he was not a full-time employee at the bank. But subsequent reports revealed that Giannoulias had overseen $11.8 million in loans to a firm run by Giorango and Stavropoulos last year when Giannoulias was senior loan officer...Giannoulias insisted Wednesday he only meant that the bank's business with Giorango began when he was away at law school. He said banking laws and regulations had barred him from volunteering information on the more recent loans..."It wasn't an attempt to be misleading," he said. - (Chicago Sun Times, Giannoulias: I take it back: Treasurer candidate says loans to crime figures were bad idea, April 27, 2006)

$3 million of that money went towards buying a casino - "During the March primary, Giannoulias said Broadway Bank "never financed any casinos. We never did anything like that." The Tribune later revealed that Broadway last year lent $3.6 million to Giorango and Stavropoulos to acquire a casino boat marina in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Giannoulias previously said he thought that property was for condos, but on Wednesday said that comment was a mistake. (Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias speaks up on loans, April 27, 2006)

I tried to claim I didn't know - "Giannoulias insisted he only knew that Giorango had "some legal problems" while he was servicing the loans, declining to say whether he knew they were criminal in nature. (Chicago Sun Times, Giannoulias: I take it back: Treasurer candidate says loans to crime figures were bad idea, April 27, 2006)

But later I admitted that I did - "On Wednesday, Giannoulias said he once discussed Giorango's criminal past with him." - (Chicago Tribune, Giannoulias speaks up on loans, April 27, 2006)

I didn't see what the big deal was - "Giannoulias described Giorango as a "very nice person" to the Chicago Tribune and questioned "what the charges are that makes him this huge crime figure." - (Chicago Sun Times, Youth seems to be trumping experience in treasurer race, November 2, 2006)

I made a $1 million loan to an elderly and mentally incompetent woman, even though I knew her partners had a history of fraud: Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias took the witness stand Tuesday to defend a controversial $1 million loan that his family's bank made in 2002 to an elderly woman who could now lose her home...Broadway Bank officials made the loan to Loren Billings, then 83, despite what Billings' son claims were indications that she was mentally incompetent and being swindled by three business partners...Giannoulias, a bank employee in 2002, testified Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court that when he met with Billings, she seemed competent, knew what she wanted to do and had good credit...Giannoulias acknowledged, though, that he had concerns about her partners, so he wrote Billings a letter in 2002 that warned her that they had poor credit and that two of them may have been involved in fraud...But Giannoulias said he shouldn't have been expected to do more. "It's not the bank's place to tell the individual or family what to do with the loan," he testified. (Chicago Tribune, Treasurer testifies in loan lawsuit; Giannoulias family bank eyed in claim, December 5, 2007)

I loaned $400,000 to Ugur Yildiz, a gun dealer who was sued by the City of Chicago and shut down by the ATF for illegally selling hundreds of guns to criminals - According to official property records, Broadway Bank made a series of mortgage loans for as much as $400,000 between 2001 and 2004 to Ugur Yildiz for land at 3309-3315 N. Mannheim Road in Franklin Park. That's where Bell's Gun & Sport Shop Inc. has operated since at least the mid-1990s. State records list Mr. Yildiz as the incorporator and agent for the company that owned the business...Bell's was sued by the city of Chicago in 1998 over allegations that hundreds of its firearms ended up in the hands of criminals. Though the suit was dismissed, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) revoked its license last fall because of ``serious inventory bookkeeping errors,'' says an ATF spokesman. ``There's no denying they sold a large amount of guns that were acquired in criminal investigations,'' he adds. (Crain's Chicago Business, Alexi's business; GUN SHOP OWNER, FELON GOT LOANS FROM STATE TREASURER CANDIDATE'S BANK, March 13, 2006)