More On The Tony Rezko/Barack Obama Partnership

In 2005 Senator Obama purchased a house for $300,000 less than its owners were asking, while Tony Rezko - an Obama fund raiser, now indicted on federal fraud charges - simultaneously bought the adjacent lot from the same seller at full price.

From the Chicago Sun Times "Eye on Rezko"comments section:

According to the Cook County Illinois land records, the deed for the house that the Obama’s purchased for $300k less than the asking price is from Frederic Wondisford and his wife, Sally Radovic, to the Obama’s Northern Trust Company Land Trust #10209 (established as such for “confidentiality”) is dated 15 June 2005 and is recorded 21 June 2005 as Document #0517233010. Declared value is $1,650,000.00.

The deed for the vacant lot is from Wondisford/Radovic to Rita M. Rezko. This deed is dated 15 June 2005 and recorded a day earlier, on 20 June 2005 as Document #0517133004. Declared value is $625,000.00.

Examination of the Cook County records very clearly indicates that Rita M. Rezko conveyed the entire lot to Obama’s Northern Trust Company Land Trust #10209 on 11 January 2006 and recorded 16 February 2006 as Document #0604733162. Declared value is $104,500.00.

VERY IMPORTANTLY, thorough and careful examination of all Cook County land records fails to locate a deed back to Rita M. Rezko from the Obama’s Northern Trust Company Land Trust #10209.

There is a “wild’ deed indicated from Rita M. Rezko to “5050 S. Greenwood LLC”. This is an Illinois limited liability corporation with the same address as Rezmar Corporation that is registered to the indicted Tony Rezko. (This deed is considered “wild” because it is not supported by any ownership deed from the Obama’s Land Trust.)

Furthermore, Tony Rezko’s registered corporation, 5050 S. Greenwood LLC, then pledges the entire vacant lot in favor of a mortgage THAT IS STILL OPEN with Fifth Third Bank for the amount of $375,000.00. This is Document #0703357023 recorded 2 February 2007.

THUS, THE ENTIRE VACANT LOT IS TITLED TO SEN. BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA (IN THEIR LAND TRUST FOR CONFIDENTIALITY) AND ALLOWED BY SENATOR BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA TO BE PLEDGED BY A TONY REZKO CORPORATION TO SECURE A LOAN.

This is contrary to what has been stated by Senator Obama; contrary to what has been stated by Senator Obama’s campaign staff: and contrary to what has been reported.

It must be noted that a seemingly intelligent Harvard educated attorney does not make such unknowing errors as stated above. The above is obvious intent not “oversight”.

Update 4/30/08: See the Cook County Recorder Of Deeds for more info. This comment in the Sun Times is also being dissected on the Free Republic website where some of the commenters are diligently trying to ascertain its veracity. The reader may glean some additional insight from some of those comments - particularly from comment #11 and on.

And then there is this argument in comment #18: "After giving this another five minutes of thought, I suspect this is not suspicious after all. I am thinking that after Rita Rezko bought the lot as an individual, she decided that she should not keep ownership that way (almost certainly related to their legal problems). So she transferred the lot to a corporate entity called Greenwood LLC. The poster mistook that transaction for her selling the entire parcel to Obama. She didnt. She just transferred it from personal to corporate ownership, the latter being an LLC in which she presumably had an interest."