Background: This morning, during a radio appearance on WGN-AM, Alexi Giannoulias made several statements that contradict previous accounts by him and his brother with regard to loans made to convicted mobsters while Alexi Giannoulias was Senior Loan Officer at Broadway Bank.

New Misleading Giannoulias Said: “Now, you know, there are some people who in a perfect world we never would have done business with.”

• FACT: Broadway Bank was aware of Michael “Jaws” Giorango’s mob record when they loaned him money. “Demetris Giannoulias said the bank learned of Giorango’s bookmaking and prostitution promotion convictions from a spring 2004 Tribune report detailing those cases… He said he asked Giorango about the convictions and Giorango said, ‘It’s in the past. I don’t do that anymore.’” (Chicago Tribune, 4/2/10)
• FACT: Alexi said he knew Giorgano had “legal problems.” “Giannoulias insisted he only knew that Giorango had ‘some legal problems’ while he was servicing the loans, declining to say whether he knew they were criminal in nature.” (Chicago Sun-Times, “Giannoulias: I Take It Back,” 4/27/06)
• FACT: Alexi knew about Giorango’s past and thought he was “a very nice person.” “He described Giorango as ‘a very nice person’ and questioned whether Giorango actually was a criminal. ‘Is he a crime figure?’ Giannoulias asked. ‘I don’t know what the charges are that makes him this huge crime figure.’”  (Chicago Tribune, 3/15/06)

Misleading Giannoulias Statement: “You look at the credit worthiness of the borrower, you look at the appraisal of the property…You don’t do criminal background checks on who they give loans to.”

• FACT: Alexi made loans despite full knowledge of criminal backgrounds. “‘If every time someone got arrested the bank threw them out, I think it would be a problem,’ Alexi Giannoulias said. ‘We look at the commercial viability of loans, and that’s where we make our credit decisions.’”  (Associated Press, 4/8/06)
• FACT: We are supposed to believe that a community bank helped mobsters finance a casino riverboat marina in South Carolina because it was a good investment. “‘From a commercial standpoint, it looked like a loan that should be made,’ Giannoulias said, adding he was unaware the marina was used to dock a SunCruz Casinos riverboat.” (Chicago Tribune, 4/9/06)

Misleading Giannoulias Statement: “I wouldn’t know what a mafia guy looked like if he walked down the street.”

• FACT: Alexi Giannoulias visited mobster Michael “Jaws” Giorango in Miami. “Giannoulias said he traveled to Miami ‘about a year or two ago’ to inspect property the bank had financed for Giorango and met with him there. Giannoulias declined to provide details of that meeting.” (Chicago Tribune, 4/27/06)
• FACT: Alexi admitted meeting Giorango at the bank “a few times.” “But Giannoulias said that since he became a full-time senior loan officer, he has met Giorango at the bank ‘a few’ times.” (Chicago Tribune, 3/15/06)

Key Unanswered Questions for Alexi Giannoulias:

1. Why did you visit Michael “Jaws” Giorango in Miami?

2. How long did you meet with “Jaws” in Miami?

3. Who else participated in those meeting with “Jaws”?

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