Obama, Alexi, and Broadway Bank

Just how and when did Barack Obama and Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias meet? According to the New York Times, the pair met in the 1990s "on the basketball court." However, that basketball court just may have been at Chicago's elite East Bank Club, which runs contrary to Obama's egalitarian image.

But if Obama and Giannoulias did meet while playing hoops, how does that explain the below news stories? Source: No Quarter USA.

Brodaway (owned by Giannoulis and his family) Loaned Rezko Project $11 million:
"Rezko and his then-partner in Chicago-Hudson LLC, Daniel Muhra [sic], purchased
the site in 2001. But preconstruction sales for the units, priced from about
$300,000 to $600,000, floundered, and construction never proceeded. In early
2002 the partnership borrowed about $10.9 million from Chicago-based Broadway
Bank to carry the land, according to the bankruptcy filing." — From the Chicago
Tribune on 5/23/06

Broadway Bank (owned by Giannoulis and his family)
helped Tony Rezko's Rezmar Corp. finance a 24 story condominium: "When Mahru was
a partner with Rezko, their company — Rezmar Corp. — was helped by Thomas'
Carnegie Realty Partners to obtain financing to build a 24-story condominium
complex at Chicago and Hudson, a project that ultimately did not get off the
ground. The financial institution that backed that deal was Broadway Bank, which
is owned by the family of state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. Elected in the
Democratic sweep last year, Giannoulias has had to answer criticism over loans
his bank made to reputed crime figures. "Carnegie brought us to Broadway," Mahru
said, and introduced him to Giannoulias’ father. "We paid Carnegie a 1 percent
commission on the loan, which is normal and customary. A spokesman for
Giannoulias referred questions to the bank, which could not be reached." — From
the Chicago Sun-Times, 5/5/07

So did Obama introduce Giannoulias (and Broadway Bank) to his longtime friend Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Or is it the opposite? Is the basketball court story bunk, and did Rezko introduce Obama to Giannoulias?

Or is it just another of those "Chicago coincidences" I like to write about?

Related post:

Obama's "sweetheart"mortgage: Was the competing lender Broadway Bank?

Technorati tags: Obama politics Barack Obama Election Democrats Illinois Politics cronyism Tony Rezko corruption mortgages business banking Alexi Giannoulias real estate