Rauner Tries To Distance Himself From Indicted Executive
(CBS) -- A top executive has been charged with fleecing millions of dollars from customers at a firm created by Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner.
Rauner calls the man "a rogue employee." But Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, calls it part of a pattern of misdeeds by those with ties to his billionaire opponent.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.
It's a not as simple as the Quinn camp portrays it, nor as independent of Rauner as his people claim.
What CBS 2 tried to find out is whether Rauner had any direct ties to the former managing director of a firm his company founded.
Anthony Blumberg was the the South African CEO of a subsidiary of GTRC, Rauner's investment firm.
Blumberg ran the Bermuda office from 2006 until 2012. He's now charged with fleecing investors of millions thru hidden trading fees.
The company paid $150 million to settle civil and criminal lawsuits.
Rauner returned to Chicago Friday to open a campaign office on the South Side and respond to questions about having a huge stake in a company but not knowing those running it.
"This is a company separate from my company. Nobody reported to me. They were five levels away from me," Rauner said Friday.
Quinn's campaign shot back.
"All of this was taking place when Rauner was the chairman of GTRC and he profited from a firm that was engaging in this kind of behaviors," Brooke Anderson said.
This isn't the first time Rauner has denied knowing a convicted or accused employee. Illinois influence peddler Stuart Levine was a $300,000-a-year consultant in one investment firm.
Now comes Blumberg, a CEO and managing director. And while its true Rauner ran a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, so is the state of Illinois.