Blagojevich's former chief fundraiser indicted

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s former top political fundraiser was indicted Thursday on federal tax fraud charges.

The U.S. attorney’s office charged Christopher Kelly with understating his personal and business income by more than $1.3 million over five years, in part by concealing his efforts to disguise shifting corporate funds to pay gambling debts. Mr. Kelly stepped down about a year ago as head of the governor’s political campaign fund.

Mr. Kelly, who ironically had represented Gov. Blagojevich in early talks several years ago about expanding gaming in Illinois, was not indicted for any impropriety regarding state government. The charges focus on his tax reports and his gambling debts.

Mr. Kelly has never been an elected or appointed state official. His attorney, Michael Monico, was not immediately available for comment but some weeks ago told reporters that his client had fully paid all of his taxes and had committed no offenses.


Mr. Kelly, 49, was charged with one count of obstructing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service, five counts each of filing false individual and corporate income tax returns and one count of illegally structuring a monetary transaction.

Specifically, the indictment brought by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald charges that Mr. Kelly allegedly paid off losing gambling debts with funds that belonged to his company, BCI Commercial Roofing Inc.

On at least one occasion, he hid the use of corporate funds to pay a gambling debt to someone named in the indictment only as “Individual A” by falsely ordering that the payment be listed in BCI records as a loan to “Individual A.”

On other occasions, he allegedly improperly recorded payments or disguised them as checks payable to himself, his children and his wife.

Mr. Kelly’s frequent trips to Las Vegas have been fairly well known in political circles. But it had been believed that the feds mostly were probing him because of his work to raise money for Mr. Blagojevich’s campaigns and his influence with the governor in appointing top state officials.

Overall, Mr. Kelly allegedly reported an income of $5.3 million for five years when he in fact earned $1 million more.

The government also announced the re-indictment of former investment banking executive Nicholas Hurtgen on related corruption charges. A judge earlier this year dismissed charges that alleged Hurtgen helped a state official pressure a suburban hospital to hire a favored contractor.

Abdelhamid Chaib, a close business associate of Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, also was indicted on corruption charges.

The charges are the latest in a long-running federal investigation of state government under Blagojevich, the second consecutive Illinois governor whose administration has become the target of a major corruption probe. Blagojevich has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The AP story here forgots to name that party Rod Blagojevich belongs to.It's called the Democratic Party.Speaking of Rod Blagojevich,Individual "A" in another indictment is... No word yet from Barack Obama on Tony Rezko's name popping up again.Here's more from The Chicago Sun-Times.