Giannoulias Criticizes Cellini Over Hotel Deal

By Kevin Robinson in News on May 20, 2008 9:15PM

Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias wants federal prosecutors to look into what he claims is a scheme by a GOP powerbroker to scam millions of dollars from the state of Illinois. According to Giannoulias, Republican lobbyist Bill Cellini crafted a deal in the 1980s with then-governor Jim Thompson to secure a $15 million loan from the state to build and buy the Ramada Renaissance in Springfield, which later became the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center. The loan stipulated that the owners wouldn't have to repay the state-funded mortgage until they turned a profit.

Giannoulias on Monday said that an independent audit showed that Cellini and his partners used "a sophisticated scheme to cook the hotel's books and divert millions of dollars so its owners wouldn't have to make good on the state backed loan," hiding $2 million in profits from the state. "Unfortunately I suspect the report represents just the tip of the iceberg," Giannoulias said. According to that report, the hotels owners used hotel funds to pay legal expenses, buy Christmas presents, and give money to the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association. Earlier this year Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Londrigan signed a foreclosure order on the hotel, clearing the way for the state to sell the property.