Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias sought to blunt a potentially damaging political issue today about questions regarding his involvement in his family’s struggling bank, which he said he expects will likely fail in the coming months.
But questions were still left unanswered following a more than 70-minute meeting with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. Among them were exactly what Giannoulias knew about convicted bookmaker Michael Giorango’s criminal past when he received loans from Broadway Bank, and how many of the bank’s troubled loans were made while Giannoulias was working there.
Giannoulias also sought to explain nearly $70 million the bank paid out in dividends to him and his family in recent years, saying $29 million of that was taken out of the bank to diversify the family’s investments.Giannoulias said he didn’t see the bank’s financial situation getting better as the election progresses.
“It’s quite likely that the bank will fail,” he said. “I hope I’m wrong. I hope they can raise the capital to keep the bank going and they’re fighting hard to do so but it’s tough out there for a lot of banks of which Broadway Bank is not immune to these same challenges.”
Listen to the audio, courtesy of WGN radio, by clicking here.
Another bank failure wouldn’t be good for anyone at this point. In the context of a political campaign, I’m not sure I can trust the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board to be objective in their interpretation. Thanks to WGN for the audio link.
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