UK Times: "Exclusive: Obama fundraiser is 'close friend' of corrupt Iraqi businessman" [View All]

January 31, 2008
Exclusive: Obama fundraiser is 'close friend' of corrupt Iraqi businessman
James Bone in New York, Dominic Kennedy in London

An undeclared payment of $3.5 million (£1.75 million) from a corrupt Iraqi-British businessman has landed Barack Obama's former fundraiser behind bars. The payment, disclosed in court papers, is the first time Mr Obama's long-serving bagman Tony Rezko, a Syrian immigrant to the United States, has been linked as a friend to the Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain's richest men.

The relationship is a potential embarrassment for Mr Obama, who has made his opposition to the Iraq war a central plank of his campaign.

Court papers describe Mr Rezko as a “close friend” of Mr Auchi. The two are involved in a large Chicago land development together, but it is unclear how long they have known each other or whether they were linked before the 2003 Iraq war. Neither side would discuss the relationship. The Times has, however, discovered state documents in Illinois recording that the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA lent money to Mr Obama's fundraiser in May 2005. Fintrade's directors include Ibtisam Auchi, the name of Mr Auchi's wife. Mr Auchi's spokesman declined to respond to a question about whether he was linked to this business.

More: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3284825.ece