Share the article: Alexi Giannoulias Hopes Voters Will Forget About His Shady Past

Former Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias just can’t seem to shake his past as he attempts his reboot. It’s been twelve years since Giannoulias left the public eye. As he continues his rehabilitation tour hoping voters will forget about his scandal-laden past, let’s recap his greatest hits.

First, there was his mismanagement of Illinois’ college loans savings programs, causing families to lose millions. According to NBC Chicago from January 6, 2010:

Bright Start was supposed to be Alexi Giannoulias’ shining achievement. Instead, the beleaguered fund, which lost more than $150 million through risky Oppenheimer investments, is radiating trouble for the Illinois State Treasurer and his Senate campaign.

Then, there were the loans to mobsters when he was a Senior Loan Officer of Broadway Bank. According to the Chicago Tribune from April 1, 2010:

The family bank of Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias loaned a pair of Chicago crime figures about $20 million during a 14-month period when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer, according to a Tribune examination that provides new details about the bank’s relationship with the convicted felons. Broadway Bank had already lent millions to Michael Giorango when he and a new business partner, Demitri Stavropoulos, came to the bank in mid-2004. Although both men were preparing to serve federal prison terms, the bank embarked on a series of loans to them.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Broadway Bank was later seized by the feds. According to Reuters from April 23, 2010:

Regulators on Friday seized a Chicago bank owned by the family of the Democratic nominee running for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. Broadway Bank was among seven Illinois banks whose failure was announced on Friday. U.S. regulators have seized 15 banks in the past two weeks, as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp ratchets up efforts to clean up the banking industry.

“Trouble seems to follow Alexi Giannoulias wherever he goes, and it never seems to be his fault if you ask him,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy“The Giannoulias family bank loaned money to mobsters when he was a Senior Loan Officer there, and Giannoulias as Treasurer lost millions in college savings loans. Putting Alexi Giannoulias in charge of the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, where he’d be in charge of 4,000 state jobs, would be like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department.”

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