Subject: Re: Tony Rezko
From: Jim Thomas (jthomas@sun.soci.niu.edu)
Date: Fri Oct 20 2006 - 14:48:08 CDT
On Fri, 20 Oct 2006, michael mccarthy wrote:
> I'm not sure if everyone watched the news but Tony
> Rezko went to jail yesterday. I hope everyone writes
> 1st Properties and ask about the pending lawsuits
> against REZMAR. I'm very concerned.
Rezko isn't in jail (yet). He returned from Syria this week and appeared
in court yesterday:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0610200242oct20,1,6068325.story
He's facing two indictments, one for extorting campaign funds, and another
for allegedly fraudulent business dealings with his pizza companies.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0610120112oct12,1,7103122.story?page=2
Our suit names as defendant the developer, 1250 W. Van Buren LLC,
which was the Rezmar corporation in which Rezko was part owner.
I wrote Mike privately a few weeks ago updating him. At that time,
the litigation was (and remains) in discovery phase. It's not
uncommon for discovery in this type of civil litigation to take many years
as defendants pass the buck, dodge and weave, new defendants might be
added, previous defendants removed - welcome to the whacky world of
litigation.
Mike's correct in raising a concern. There seem to be two choices,
neither very pleasant.
1) We can continue paying legal fees to fight the case against Rezmar for
the next few years. If we lose, always a possibility, we're out the money
and pay his legal fees. If we win, it's likely there will be little gain.
His corporations have mostly been dissolved and his assets (those that
weren't set out of the country) are reported to be minimal, while his
debts are reported to be massive.
We're just one among other plaintiffs also litigating losses/damages
against Rezko. Not to mention creditors.Given his current multiple
criminal charges, a win would likely be no-win, because there would be no
assets.
2) We could drop the suit and cut our losses.
3) We could go after subcontractors. But, even if there were evidence of
their liability, and even if we prevailed, it could be like shooting
mosquites with a rifle: We'd hit a few, but we might not accomplish much.
These and other options will be weighed in consultation with the 1P
attorney handling this. Sadly, at the moment, there's simply not much
to report, other than we're the least of Rezko's current problems.
Jim / 501
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim Thomas / Department of Sociology / Northern Illinois University
jthomas@sun.soci.niu.edu / http://www.soci.niu.edu/~jthomas
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