Investigative reporter Tim Novak
at the Chicago Sun-Times has identified 15 building
projects that Rezmar, Rezko's development company, redeveloped
while it was represented by Davis, Miner, Barnhill &
Galland during Obama's time at the firm.
The law firm changed its name when senior partner
Allison Davis left to join Rezko in his schemes to
take out loans on low-income housing projects. Several
of the transactions remain under investigation, because
the millions of dollars Rezko borrowed against the
properties to make redevelopments are gone, while
many of the properties remain boarded up and uninhabitable.
Following the Jan. 21 Democratic Party primary debate,
Miceli told the Washington Post that he was Obama's
supervisor at the law firm, in response to Sen. Hillary
Clinton's charges Obama had worked for a Chicago slumlord,
Rezko.
The Post said "Obama denied doing any legal
work directly for Rezko or his companies," contending
Obama had done only "about five hours worth of
work" on a joint real estate development project
involving Rezko and a Chicago church group.
Miceli told the Post Obama "was a very junior
lawyer at the time, who was given responsibility for
basic due diligence, document review."
Miceli said Obama "did what he was told by the
firm," minimizing the importance of any work
Obama admittedly did for the Rezko account.
WND confirmed the tax bill for the Obama home is
mailed to Miceli, not to Obama or the Northern Trust
account through which Obama has claimed the home was
purchased.
Records from the Cook County Treasurer's Office give
the PIN number for the Obama property as 20-11-115-037-0000
and list Miceli as the person who receives Obama's
property tax invoice by mail.
Eric Herman, a spokesman for the Cook County assessor,
confirmed to WND that the Treasurer's Office records
were correct and that Miceli did receive the Obama
property tax invoice by mail.
Miceli did not return a call WND placed to him at
Miner, Barnhill & Galland.
Herman told WND a second PIN number, 20-11-115-036-0000,
identified the vacant lot next to the Obama mansion
that was purchased by Rita Rezko, Tony Rezko's wife.
Here, WND found conflicts between the tax records
maintained by the Cook County Treasurer's Office and
the deed information maintained by the Cook County
Recorder of Deeds.
Rosslyn Whitlock, an Internet support specialist
at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, confirmed to
WND that the office has no information listed for
the Obama home under the PIN number 20-11-115-037-0000,
the number used by the Cook County Assessor's office
for property tax purposes.
Records at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds list
Rita Rezko as the holder of the warranty deed for
the vacant lot at 5050 S. Greenwood adjoining the
Obama mansion, under the PIN number 20-11-115-036-0000.
WND was able to locate warranty information at the
Cook County Recorder of Deeds , which Herman at the
County Assessor's office told WND was the "old
PIN number" assigned to the Obama home at 5046
S. Greenwood Avenue, before the home was sold to Obama.
Neither spokesman could explain to WND the discrepancy
in PIN numbers, nor why the Cook County Recorder of
Deeds has no information filed under the new PIN number
assigned to the property after the Obama purchase.
Records with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds under
the PIN number 20-11-115-034-0000 indicate the mortgage
is held by Northern Trust Company under trust number
10209, which Obama has indicated was the trust the
Obama family used to purchase the home.
Meanwhile, WND has reported that since arresting
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Attorney Patrick
Fitzgerald has taken new interest in Rezko's involvement
in the Obama mansion purchase.
WND also reported real estate credit analyst Kenneth
Conner has filed a civil suit alleging he was wrongfully
dismissed by Mutual Bank of Harvey for objecting to
what he considered a fraudulent appraisal of the vacant
lot. The appraisal was submitted by the Rezkos at
an intentionally high figure, he claims, permitting
them to borrow an additional $125,000 that amounted
to a "political payoff" to Obama.