Blago Got Lion's Share of Indicted Pal's Campaign Cash

Arrested today on charges of paying bribes to doctors to refer patients to his surgery centers, Raghuveer Nayuk once gave campaign contributions to a long list of candidates for state and federal offices. But none of them came close to the nearly $200,000 Nayuk gave to Rod Blagojevich.

 

Federal prosecutors today unveiled a nineteen-count indictment against Raghuveer Nayak, a political contributor who owned several medical facilities, on charges that he paid kickbacks for referrals to his medical clinics and that he understated his income for tax purposes. These are not typical political corruption charges, but Nayak is closely associated with both former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign and US Rep. Jesse Jackson's interest in the US Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama in 2008.

 

Nayak was a generous campaign contributor. He and the 10 companies named in the indictment gave $487,995 to candidates between 2000 and 2008, including $373K to state and local candidates in Illinois and another $115K to federal candidates. Top recipients include:

 

(1) Rod Blagojevich: $198K

(2) Alexi Giannoulias: $23K

(3) Jay Hoffman: $20K

(4) Lisa Madigan: $19K

(5) Pat Quinn: $18K

 

Nayak apparently stopped giving to candidates after 2008, but some of these candidates stopped getting contributions sooner -- Lisa Madigan hasn't reported any contributions since before the 2006 General Election. Rod Blagojevich, Jay Hoffman, and Pat Quinn all reported receipts in 2008, but no one has reported any receipts from him or his companies since then. The indictment notes that Nayak was interviewed by federal agents in December, 2008.