From the Sun-Times:

Purchase of old Aurora hospital draws scrutiny

November 8, 2007

Did Raghuveer Nayak -- businessman and supporter of Gov. Blagojevich -- keep his purchase of a vacant, crumbling hospital complex in Aurora a secret?

Nayak says no. Public records clearly show he and his wife bought the eight-acre site for $1.2 million on Feb. 20, he says.

But that disclosure became widely known last week only after The Beacon News, a Sun-Times sister publication, reported it. A Feb. 22 Aurora news release announcing the old Copley Hospital's sale didn't mention Nayak.

That's prompting closer scrutiny at Nayak's campaign donations. Aurora Mayor Thomas J. Weisner accepted $10,000 from two Nayak businesses and $1,000 from a Nayak associate, Dr. Navin Barot, in 2005. Weisner got another $2,000 from a medical lab Nayak once owned and had sold to people he knew.

"People usually give large donations because there's a possibility they might want something in return," Aurora Ald. Stephanie Kifowit said. "If an investor is going to buy a property and properly redevelop it, why wouldn't he want his identity known?"

Weisner said Nayak's contributions wouldn't influence city decisions on Nayak's project.

Nayak's purchase is being financed by Mutual Bank, whose CEO is Amrish Mahajan, a top Blagojevich fund-raiser. Mahajan's wife, Anita, was indicted in March, accused of overbilling the state on a drug-testing contract.

Nayak has hired Brian Daly, former chairman of Blagojevich's campaign fund, to lobby on behalf of the Aurora project.

Chris Fusco and Dave McKinney