Obama's Mansion at 5046 S. Greenwood - who paid for it / Who owns it ? Who pays the taxes ? What land trust ?

APOLOGY

We wish to apologise, first to our readers and secondly to the President - Elect for having provided false information about the Mansion at 5046 S. Greenwood, in Chicago where the Obama family have lived since 21st June 2005.

It now appears from records unearthed by World Net Daily that this is not in fact owned by Mr or even Mrs Obama, nor their 2 sweet children.

William Miceli is a lawyer at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, which also formerly employed Obama. He is also an attorney for convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko now awaiting sentence on a variety of fraud, money laundering and bribery-related counts. William Micelli is listed as the owner and taxpayer for Barack Obama's Chicago mansion.

The controversy began when a website called News and Commentary for Thinking People published a 48-page document that lists Miceli as the owner of the Obama home at 5046 S. Greenwood.

Miceli, as a senior attorney at the firm, supervised Obama when the future president wrote letters on behalf of Rezko urging public authorities to award him new public properties to rehabilitate, notes the "Barack Book" website maintained by GOP.com.

WND has asked for comment from Obama's transition team (Obama is currently exposing his well buff body to the snappers on a sun kissed Hawaiian beach) and the Democratic National Committee, but no answers have been received. Yet.

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.

Lest you be confused the law firm changed its name. Senior (and founding member in 1971) partner, glamorous Allison Davis left to join Rezko in his schemes in 1997 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.

See more on Allison Davis here

"[Davis Is] Barack Obama's Former Boss And Business Partners With Tony Rezko, Who's Charged With Demanding Kickbacks From Companies Seeking State Business Under Gov. Blagojevich, Among Other Things." (Mark Konkol, "‘We Still Live In A Slum’," Chicago Sun-Times, 6/29/07)

Davis’ Low-Rise Apartment Complex Was Known For Drug Activity, Drug Use And Prostitution. (Mark Konkol, "‘We Still Live In A Slum’," Chicago Sun-Times, 6/29/07)

Davis And Son Found Liable For Building Code Violations. (Mark Konkol, "‘We Still Live In A Slum’," Chicago Sun-Times, 6/29/07)
"Davis Got State-Backed Loans To Buy The Place With His Partner Bill Moorehead -- Who's Headed To Federal Prison For Stealing More Than $1 Million From Public Housing Buildings He Managed." (Mark Konkol, "‘We Still Live In A Slum’," Chicago Sun-Times, 6/29/07)

In response to Shrillary's absurd charges that her (then) opponent Obama had worked for Chicago slumlord, Rezko, Miceli told the Washington Post that he was Obama's supervisor at the law firm. See also WSJ and a Simple Thing re Shrillary's Smear Campaign Jan 3 2008

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." (Wonder what they charged Junior lawyers out who did no work ?)

Miceli said Obama "did what he was told by the firm," minimizing the importance of any work Obama admittedly did for the Rezko account.

One of the firm’s not-for-profit clients — the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corp., co-founded by Obama’s then-boss Allison Davis — was partners with Rezko’s company in a 1995 deal to convert an abandoned nursing home at 61st and Drexel into low-income apartments. Altogether, Obama spent 32 hours on the project, according to the firm.

Valerie Jarrett. favoured by Obama to take his senate seat was a member of the board of directors for the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation. Along with several Davis and Rezko associates, as well as involvement with the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, an organization that worked with Rezko and Davis.

WND confirmed the tax bill (In 2006, the property tax was assessed at $22,162.47.) for the Obama home is mailed to Miceli;

1. Not to Obama
2. Not to 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. (verified by Eric Herman, a spokesman for the Cook County assessor)the recording date, 6/21/2005, is in the amount of $1,650,000. The borrower is listed as Northern Trust Company.

Herman also 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.

Miceli did not return a call WND placed to him at Miner, Barnhill & Galland.

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.

A Kenneth Connor filed a civil complaint in October with the Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County alleging he was fired by Mutual Bank of Harvey, Ill., because he objected to land appraisals submitted on behalf of the Rezkos and the Obamas, with the complicity of the bank.

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.

Conner told the FBI, months ago, when he initially was fired, that the bank and the Rezkos were engaged in "fraud, bribes or kickbacks, use whatever term you want," to benefit the Obamas.

Conner said his lawyer, Glenn R. Gaffney, also has been interviewed by the FBI about the Rezko-Obama deal since December 5th.

On the same day that Obama closed on the Greenwood property in 2005, the lot next door sold to Tony Rezko’s wife in the amount of $625,000. Six months later Obama paid $104,500 for a portion of the lot.

Rita Rezko sold the lot in 2007 for $575,000.

According to documents posted (which we cannot find- there is no search function) on the Obama-Biden website, Barack and Michelle Obama entered into a “Land Trust” Agreement, with William Miceli acting as their agent. All bills are to be forwarded to Miceli, including the property tax.

"This is curious because Land Trusts are employed to facilitate a later reconveyance or to hide the name of an owner of a certain parcel. Neither would seem likely here. And I am incredulous the bank would lend under these circumstances. It means the trustee or nominee would be on the mortgage and Obama on the note (and mortgage).Banks don’t like to do this. In fact banks don’t like to lend to trusts at all. "

Also apparently." a realtor in the Chicago area can ask them to call up a local title/escrow company and get a property profile pulled on this address. The title companies keep all these records electronically for immediate access in the process of title searches before they issue insurance on any transaction. The profile will have things like the Trust Deed, Transfer documents, tax documents, copy of the loan instrument (which includes term, payments, down payments, etc) as well as any other encumbrances or lien holders (like a second mortgage, line of credit, mechanics lien, etc)."
See Comments here for more on these comments

See also Strata Sphere here available it appears only as a cache - you are advised to copy it - Carter - Fuck at work ?

Especially very lengthy comment by John A. Shaw a former senior official of the Defense, State, and Commerce departments, and served on several White House staffs. He is a specialist in international technology transfer and arms sales, and in the economic development of the Middle East.

"Obama has his own personal housing crisis that is tied not into Fanny Mae, but into a corrupt international financial combine headed by Nadhmi Auchi, the convicted Iraqi billionaire at the center of the Elf Aquitaine corruption trial in France. Auchi has been shown to be the fountainhead of a source of corruption flowing from Iraq, to France, Italy, and the United States. His financial network, under a Luxembourg company called General Mediterranean Holdings, spread from Baghdad and the Middle East to Paris, (where Auchi successfully posited Saddam’s UN Oil for Food scheme), London, Washington, and Chicago, making very few ripples and raising no concerns. " ...etc etc.,

See also commentator sbd re payment made by wiring of funds from Lebanon by Auchi - April 4, 2007, to a bank account (the “MMDA account”) held at Northern Trust by the law firm of Freeborn & Peters (”Freeborn”) received an incoming wire transfer of approximately $3,499,471 from a bank in Beirut, Lebanon. The originator of the wire transfer was identified as General Mediterranean Holdings, SA (”General Mediterranean”)... also the strange payment by Rezko (or indebtedness) of $1,675,000 which was curiously the purchase price of 5046 S. Greenwood, Chicago.

All of which begs the question whay all this becomes public AFTER the election ? Questions as to his nationality - born in Hawaii ? Kenya ? Blago and his gang, Tony Rezko? Nahdmi Auchi , Ayers ? Dohrn ? .. are we going to have a President impeached before he is sworn in ?

BTW the Chicago Tribune in deep Financia doo doo and requiring a few favours has sanitised their site removing all reference to dodgy deals....

Lockerbie - "one of the most disgraceful miscarriages of justice in history" becomes more evident

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was fit up and wrongly convicted in 2001 of the murder of 270 people arising from the bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scottland on 21 December 1988.

In accordance with its statutory obligations the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission. will report at 12:00 midday on 28 June 2007 in a brief summary for the media its main findings .

The Commission’s statement of reasons for its decision in the case (expected to send it back for re-trial for eventual acquittal , which in this case extends to over 800 pages and will be accompanied by numerous volumes of appendices . It will not be made public.

Copies of the summary will be available on the Commission’s website, www.sccrc.org.uk and from its offices at 17 Renfield Street, Glasgow UK.

Jim Swire, whose daughter died in the disaster and tireless campaigner for the truth, said:

"Scottish justice obviously played a leading part in one of the most disgraceful miscarriages of justice in history. The Americans played their role in the investigation and influenced the prosecution."

We still will not know who committed the crime which if it had occurred as planned over the Atlantic , would be a distant memory.

Consortium News has a contemporary report on the judges 26,000-word Opinion of the Court by By William Blum, Lockerbie Ruling Revisited June 29, 2007 (Original article posted Feb. 5, 2001).

Which makes you wonder how he was ever found guilty.

"The three Scottish judges cannot have relished returning to the United Kingdom after finding both defendants innocent of the murder of 270 people, largely from the U.K. and the United States. Not to mention having to face dozens of hysterical victims' family members in the courtroom.

As with any horrendous crime, there's a desire for someone to be punished. That's an especially strong sentiment when a defendant is from an unpopular racial or ethnic group, in this case, a Libyan. The three judges also knew the desires of the White House and Downing Street as to the outcome."

Dawn Primarolo fiddles whilst the Treasury is looted

Carousel Fraud is massive. Criminals are taking over £400 Mn each month from the Treasury by fraudulent claims - Lord Patel has regularly posted on cases which appear before the courts. In December in the Pre Budget Statement the updated figures for MITC fraud were promised but did not appear (Footnote). This week the Liberal Democrats sought better and further particulars about the criminal elements unvolved the scale of theft and of the efforts to stop this fraud.

In answer to questions about Carousel Fraud by Simon Hughes, gorgeous, pouting, clever, highly educated Dawn Primarolo ( Hansard 18th January Col. 1338W ) did her best not to be helpful. She said approximately 1,000 extra staff were allocated to HM Revenue and Customs as part of the overall VAT Compliance Strategy (VCS) in 2002-03 (5/4 years ago) which included VAT Missing Trade Intra-Community Fraud (MTIC = Carousel Fraud) as one of its priorities.

A total of 1,500 staff are now engaged in countering MTIC fraud across the Department following an additional redeployment of 700 compliance staff since Budget 2006 - (an update was expected by Gordie in the December Budget Statement but nothing was said.)

Simon Hughes also asked that for the last 12 months, how many
1, companies were investigated
2, prosecutions for carousel fraud were started
3, prosecutions for carousel fraud were completed

Dr Vincent Cable asked for each of the last 5 years for which records were available ;

1. How many prosecutions were there for carousel fraud
2. How many of the defendants in cases of carousel fraud were known to be part of organised crime gangs

To which the delightful hard working mum Dawn 52, (pic with friend) replied : "Details of the investigations and prosecutions conducted each year by HM Revenue and Customs are published in the departmental annual report and, prior to the creation of HM Revenue and Customs, was published each year in the annual reports of both the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. Where the specific information requested is not published, it is not collated in that format" - ie who the gangsters, para militaries are.

On the same day the Asset Recovery Agency acting under the Proceeds of Crime Act in a High Court Action served Property Freezing Orders (PFOs) on individuals and companies connected with and /or controlled by Paul Dermot Craven and Brian Pepper as they held assets which were obtained through the proceeds of unlawful conduct, including money laundering, tax evasion, false accounting, mortgage fraud and benefit fraud.

In this case, which is said to be connected to well known Republicans in Northern Ireland have frozen 77 further properties around Greater Manchester , now making a total of 92 properties valued at £13m which have been seized and investigations continue. The equity value is however much lower (presumably because the properties are mortgaged) and is about £4.7Mn.

"There are people in groups across society who are not engaged in further paramilitary activity - but will engage in organised crime because it funds their lifestyle," says Northern Ireland security minister Paul Goggins. In 2005-6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, ARA managed to convert £4.1m in assets into hard, recovered cash. On 11th January 2007, the Home Office laid a Written Ministerial Statement before Parliament setting out Government proposals to merge the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) from next year it will disappear as the ARA and be absorbed into the Serious Organised Crime Agency early in 2008.

The Orders name ; Dermot Craven Developments Ltd, Craven House, Britannia Road, Sale,
Manchester and company directors Brian Pepper of Bridgewater Street, Sale,
Manchester and Dawn Craven;
* Avenue Holdings Ltd, Craven House, Britannia Road, Sale, Manchester, and
company directors Paul Dermot Craven of South Downs Road, Hale, Altrincham,
Cheshire, Brian Pepper and Gerald Joseph Nightingale;
* DC&BP (2004) Ltd, Craven House, Britannia Road, Sale, Manchester, and
company directors Dermot Craven and Brian Pepper.

The Agency has not alleged any criminal conduct by Dawn Craven or Gerald Joseph
Nightingale but has frozen property held by them, or by companies of which they
are directors, because it alleges that the property held is the proceeds of crime.

One is left with the smell that lots of very worthy hard working people are working very hard ... and ...er.. not getting very far ... and Dawn doesn't really want anyone to see how little they have acheived so far. Anyway the ARA will disappear next year so comparisons cannot be made blah. blah..... making itn look like the criminals have got away with approaching £5Bn a year for the last 3 years AT LEAST.

Footnote
"The correct figures will be available in the PBR, as they are every year following the application of the strategy for reducing MTIC fraud."