Marathon Pundit: Nation of Islam founder's son on Rezko: "He embezzled me"

"The biggest mistake that I did was trusting Tony Rezko" is what 79 year-old Jabir Muhammad, son of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, told the Chicago Sun-Times.

In another complicated real estate deal, Tony Rezko appears to have purchased a South Side Chicago mansion and some other properties owned by Muhammad in 1995.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Under their contract with Rezko, the Muhammads were to leave the house by Dec. 31, 1995, but they still live there. The current owner -- Dr. Paul S. Ray, a Rezko business partner -- recently asked them to move out. Ray's attorney said Ray has clear title to Muhammad's house.

Muhammad's attorney, Joseph Morris, said Tuesday the Muhammads "never knowingly signed any papers" to convey the home to Rezko. The Muhammads originally entrusted Rezko to handle their financial affairs in 1991, around the time Jabir Muhammad fell ill with the first in a series of potentially life-threatening ailments, Morris said.

Since Rezko paid the property taxes on the home, Muhammad said years passed before he realized he no longer owned it.

In a written statement, Rezko calls Muhammad's charges "baseless."

Rezko's ties to the the Muhammad family go back to the 1970s, when the Syrian immigrant entered into some fast food ventures with them.

Dr. Paul Ray is the head of the urology department of publicly-run Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where he makes $347,000 a year. Three weeks ago, Obama's staff revealed that it had given to charity money that Ray donated to the campaign.

In a court filing from earlier this month involving an alleged scheme where Rezko attempted to swindle a lending company out of $10 million, Ray is the unidentified "Investor 1" according to the Chicago Tribune.

Illinois' junior senator had absolutely nothing to do with Jabir Muhammad dealings, but yet another Rezko-reminder appearing in a major newspaper can only bad news for Obama.

Related post:

Obama donates more Rezko tainted donations to charity

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