The story begins with Kevin Boyce, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. Boyce was picked by the Dems to replace W. Carlton Weddington, another Democrat, who was sent to prison on bribery charges.
Both Boyce and Weddington moved up the ladder through the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
Boyce was appointed the State Treasurer for Ohio. He lost the election to Republican Josh Mandel in 2010 over the Amer Ahmad affair. Ahmad was his Deputy State Treasurer who, among other crimes, helped out Mohammed Noure Alo, a lobbyist and immigration attorney with six figures in legal fees and helped his wife get a job announced only at the mosque.
The media accused Mandel of racism, but they couldn’t save Boyce.
Despite this widely publicized scandal in the 2010 election, Rahm Emanual brought Amer Ahmad on board in 2011, after a recommendation from Boyce.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration on Monday produced a letter showing it knew about questions surrounding Amer Ahmad and a controversial government contract in Ohio before the mayor hired him as Chicago’s comptroller in April 2011.
The letter was released as the administration attempted to show how it vetted Ahmad, who pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to a kickback scheme stemming from his tenure as Ohio’s deputy treasurer. Ahmad, 38, abruptly resigned from his City Hall job nearly a month ago. The administration has said Emanuel didn’t know about Ahmad’s federal problems until the former aide was indicted last week.
When Amer Ahmad abruptly resigned as city comptroller about three weeks ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel heaped praise on his hand-picked aide for helping him “reform government” in Chicago.
So Rahm Emanuel supposedly didn’t know that his new comptroller was a crook, but people in his administration did. If you believe that, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Chicago for you.
Now Amer Ahmad has pleaded guilty.
Former Chicago Comptroller Amer Ahmad pleaded guilty in Ohio federal court Monday to charges that he steered state business to his financial adviser in exchange for more than $500,000 in kickbacks.Oceanfront property. Chicago.
The one-time trusted ally of Mayor Emanuel will pay more than $3.2 million in restitution and could face a maximum of 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines, under conditions of the deal.
Ahmad, who served as Ohio’s deputy treasurer and chief investment official, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. He was hired in Chicago by Mayor Rahm Emanuel after the crimes in Ohio were committed. Mayor Emanuel has said that he knew nothing about the infractions and that nothing criminal was done in Chicago. An audit was done on Ahmad’s work and the results were clear, the mayor’s office has said.
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