PART TWO
QUESTIONABLE TIES
Roland Burris’s firm received a retainer fee of $5,000 per month from Loop Capital. In
2003, Loop Capital received over $750,000 in pension bond business from the
Blagojevich administration. Burris denied that there was anything wrong with the
arrangement. “We make sure that the client has access, and the client has to have a
product or services that the customer can use, and that it is a competitive product,”
Burris said.
Reynolds continues to support Burris and recently sent his campaign a $2400
contribution. It should be noted that only 54 other individuals have contributed to
Burris, and only three have given as much as Reynolds. The Chicago Tribune called
Burris “a prototypical Illinois politician, who put a relative on the public payroll,
steered legal business to political supporters and sought to trade on his ties when he
became a lobbyist.”
http:// www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-burris-record-08-jan08,0,2084811,full.story
http:// query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/C00458349/
Last year, Peter Bynoe, a managing director at Loop Capital, lobbied Chicago on behalf
of a corpse-hauling firm that overcharged the city, broke its promises, and refused to
pay its bills. Currently, GSSP Enterprise receives over $900 for removing bodies in
Chicago, but it performs the same duties in Dayton, Ohio for $75. GSSP had previously
operated on a contract with Chicago that paid $200 per corpse. Cook County currently
pays $250 for corpse-hauling services. The company was supposed to use minority
contractors, but it failed to use them sufficiently and failed to pay some of them as
promised. The company even mixed up two bodies and did not discover the error until
one of the women had been buried. One former employee claimed that the company
was understaffed, that he had receive no safety training, and that protective gear and
even body bags were lacking. Yet, despite numerous problems, Bynoe was successful;
and GSSP received a new contract with Chicago. In 2003, Bynoe helped Tony Rezko in
his fundraising endeavors. In 1989, Bynoe teamed up with the scandal-plagued Ron
Brown in a deal to take over the Denver Nuggets.
http:// newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/07/chicago-pays-915-per-body-formorgue-transport-alderman-says-thats-too-much.html
http:// www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/hot/us_v_rezko_exhibits/2008_03_07/fob_chart_01.pdf
http:// life.blogr.com/stories/2009-08-23-Peter-Bynoe-for-cambridge-lee-industries/
http:// www.highbeam.com/DocPrint.aspx?DocId=1P2:1623852
Not only was Loop Capital involved in Chicago’s corrupt politics, it was also involved
in Wisconsin corruption. In 2003, when Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle came to a
Packers game in Chicago, he met with Tony Rezko and a couple of other fundraisers.
Doyle and a staffer sat in a corporate box paid for by Loop Capital. Doyle’s campaign
later paid $170 to Loop Capital. A deal was eventually worked out between Bear
Stearns and the state of Wisconsin. Loop Capital earned about $170,000 for its role in the
deal. The lobbyist at the center of the deal, Nick Hurtgen, pleaded guilty to aiding and
abetting wire fraud earlier this year for his role in a government corruption case.
http:// www.ilcampaign.org/press/2006/7-15-2006%20Indicted.htm
http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/25/p-nicholas-hurtgen-pleads_n_169995.html
In 2003, Loop Capital retained Ronald White, a Philadelphia lawyer, to gain business
with the city. White was a confidant of Mayor John Street, whose administration was
beset by scandal. Loop Capital gave over $12,000 to a scholarship fund named for White
and gave $5,000 to White’s political action committee. White’s retainer fee of $5,000 per
month was sent to a shell company that was nominally controlled by White’s girlfriend,
Janice Renee Knight. Reynolds “was recorded on FBI wiretaps arranging what
prosecutors said was a ‘sham’ consulting contract with White’s girlfriend.” Loop
Capital received two no-bid contracts worth nearly $300,000. White was later indicted
for bribing the city treasurer to steer business to Loop Capital, among others. Loop
Capital was referred to as “Company No. 4” in White’s indictment. White died before
his trial.
In 2004, Loop Capital profited from its minority status on a deal to sell off the Chicago
Skyway. Its public benefactor, Alderman William Beavers, said, “Loop Capital wasn't
involved in the original deal.” (Loop was added later as a co-financial adviser.) “I want
them to be part of it, not only Loop but other minority firms. I want to make sure
minorities get their fair share of everything to come through the city.”
http:// www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-15-fundraiserscorruption_N.htm?csp=34
http:// www.afro-netizen.com/2004/11/firm_in_skyway_.html