Chicago Business reported July 29, 2005, that Chicago-based Rezmar Corp., owned by indicted political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, had "entered into a joint venture with a British firm in a $150-million deal to build a [250-megawatt] power plant in Iraq," with construction to begin in the fall. However, construction did not commence in 2005.
Chicago Business identified the unnamed "British firm" as General Mediterranean Holding SA which belongs to Nadhmi Auchi, the Iraqi-British billionaire who provided Rezko with the $3.5 million that caused him to lose his bond and wind up in jail to await his March 3, 2008, trial date.
According to a communication received February 9, 2008, from Nadhmi Auchi's media attorney in London, Nadhmi Auchi was not involved in this business enterprise.
The contract for the power plant had been negotiated in 2004.* The agreement was signed with Aiham Alsammarae, the head of Iraq's ministry of electricity, who called for "the soon-to-be named joint venture" to be based in Jordan. The plant was to "supply power to Iraq for 10 years," according Michael Rumman, who speaks Arabic and who was Rezmar's spokesman, Chicago Business reported.
During a summer 2005 Chicago Sun-Times interview, Rumman, Rezko’s point man on his proposed power plant in Iraq said "Rezko used his 'formidable overseas network of business relationships' to join energy consulting companies and win the contract."
On December 3, 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Rumman "already had been to Jordan, where 'most of the negotiations and deal structures are done.' He had hoped to begin construction on the Chamchamal plant in January of this year."
In the same article, the Sun-Times reported that, when it reached Rumman for comments, he "declined to discuss the plant or Alsammarae. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed that the contract for the Chamchamal project no longer is in effect." Chamchamal is a Kurdish city located to the east of Kirkuk and west of Suleimania in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Additionally, the Sun-Times reported:
Federal authorities are investigating an Iraqi power plant deal involving Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, a former top fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich charged with defrauding Illinois taxpayers.
Investigators want to talk to Iraq’s jailed former electricity minister, Aiham Alsammarae, about how Rezko landed the potentially lucrative contract, a source familiar with the probe told the Chicago Sun-Times. ... [Another source said that Alsammarae] helped Rezko get the deal.
A copy of the press release dated July 31, 2005, reported that the "power plant is slated to be one of three power plants under construction at the same time. A Brazilian firm and an Iraqi company are building the other two."
