Chicago judge to decide if his own accuser goes to jail
By: Barbara Hollingsworth, Local Opinion Editor, Washington Examiner
03/26/10 3:24 PM EDT
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How’s this for an eyeball-popping conflict of interest?

Chicago Circuit Court Judge Alexander White - the same judge accused of being on the take in a civil trial four years ago - is expected to rule today on whether his accuser has to serve the remaining 34 days of his sentence on criminal contempt of court charges in Cook County Jail.

Chicago businessman Michael Lynch, the former CEO of McCook Metals, is also a key witness in an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the United Airlines bankruptcy in Chicago, raising new questions about retaliation and witness tampering.

In a 2006 affadavit Lynch filed with the court, he claimed to have material evidence – including bank account numbers and trust documents – implicating federal Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eugene Wedoff, who presided over both the United and McCook cases, as well as six state judges (including Judge White), and a number of lawyers, businessmen and bankruptcy trustees. Two judges named in Lynch’s court filings abruptly retired soon afterwards.

Lynch was cited for criminal contempt for allegedly including “unsubstantiated and far-flung allegations that Judge White was a participant in an organized crime scheme in Arizona.” White currently presides over all judgment, eminent domain, quitclaim and lien cases in Cook County, which was recently chosen as the worst jurisdiction in the nation for judicial corruption in a survey of legal experts commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Lynch’s allegations are similar to those that sparked Operation Greylord, an FBI investigation of judicial corruption in Cook County during the 1980s that indicted 92 government officials, including 17 judges, on corruption charges. The now retired judge who originally cited Lynch for contempt accused him of “attacking the integrity of the court” after the businessman filed a pro se motion asking that another judge hear his case.

Lynch told The Examiner that a team of private investigators he hired determined that both Judge White and Judge Wedoff failed to report several blind trusts under management by third parties on their financial disclosure forms. Lynch says he provided copies of all evidence his team unearthed to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

The Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear Lynch’s appeal of the contempt finding. One of the Supreme Court justices is Anne Burke, wife of Daley family loyalist Alderman Ed Burke. In his 2004 book, “When Corruption was King,” former Mafia attorney Robert Cooley - whose hidden tape recordings helped launch Greylord - accused Burke and his wife of fixing two murder cases. Alderman Burke is also chairman of the Democratic Committee that appoints judges. A Jan. 22, 2008 Chicago Tribune article called the Burkes “the state’s richest political family,” with a combined political warchest of $8.3 million – an –eyebrow-raising amount of cash for an appointed judge and a city alderman.

On March 2, a three-judge appellate panel that includes Judge Mary Jane Thies, daughter of another former Cook County official, upheld Lynch’s contempt citation even though, he told The Examiner, a legally mandated sentencing hearing was never held.

Michael Lynch announces that on July 20, 2006, after refusing to dismiss the case in alleged violation of law, Judge Eugene R. Wedoff, Chief Judge of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District, ordered him to be taken into custody, handcuffed, and escorted by a swarm of federal marshals to a forced 341 examination. Mr. Lynch was at no time read his rights in gross violation of law.

According to Lynch, before being taken into custody, Mr. Lynch clarified on the record that Judge Wedoff was committing an act of coercion under duress by directly addressing the chief bankruptcy judge with the question, if he left the building, then he would be picked up by federal marshals and forced to sit for the interrogation? Judge Wedoff answered, "Yes."

Lynch claims Judge Wedoff's actions in alleged violation of law and in gross violation of Mr. Lynch's basic civil rights under the color of law are alleged retaliation for Mr. Lynch's uncovering Judge Wedoff's alleged participation in judicial corruption. Lynch claims that on July 20, 2006, an attorney from the law firm Winston&Strawn representing Alcoa, the past major competitor of McCook Metals in the aluminum industry, was improperly allowed to attend Mr. Lynch's forced 341 examination despite Alcoa being a defendant in a civil RICO action pending in the Tenth Circuit US Court of Appeals in Kansas. Lynch claims evidence indicates that Alcoa allegedly is now in ownership of McCook assets despite Wedoff-appointed trustee, Joseph Baldi, accepting the bid from Pechiney, a French competitor whose bid for McCook was 80% lower than Lynch's bid to regain his company.

Lynch claims that said attorney from the law firm of Winston & Strawn representing Alcoa is apparently Federal Appellate Judge William Bauer's niece. Despite the apparent conflict of interest, Judge Bauer has issued rulings against Mr. Lynch in his case before the Seventh Circuit appellate court. Lynch also claims that Judge Bauer is allegedly misusing his official position to protect Alcoa.

Lynch and his legal team have uncovered an alleged conspiracy by Alcoa and the financing giant, General Electric, (GECC) to defraud the US taxpayer by raising the prices for the US military's acquisition of aluminum for military jets. Lynch claims alleged pre-bankruptcy evidence indicates that allegedly Alcoa and GECC conspired with Judge Wedoff to force McCook Metals into bankruptcy in August 2001 and wrest control of the company from Lynch.

According to Lynch, since April 2006, when an alleged $40 million "judicial bribery fund" was discovered by an expert fraud investigator contracted by the organization, Independent Federal Fund Oversight Committee (IFFOC), Mr. Lynch has been amassing material evidence of alleged judicial, attorney, and trustee wrongdoing which is being immediately funneled to civil and criminal authorities with whom Mr. Lynch is fully cooperating.

On July 20, 2006, before ordering federal marshals to handcuff Mr. Lynch, Judge Wedoff reprimanded Lynch asserting that Lynch had been making false statements about Judge Wedoff's financial affairs. However, on court record on March 2nd, 2006, the following exchange took place. Mr. David Price, President of IFFOC, who is investigating Judge Wedoff's financial affairs involving his prior law firm, Jenner & Block, stated, "You asked me to identify myself, and I'm saying we found some inconsistencies in this case, including you, Your Honor, accepting residuals from Jenner&Block that not only give the appearance of conflict, but a direct conflict of interest." Judge Wedoff made no response, did not deny the allegation, and immediately left the courtroom according to court transcripts claims Lynch. Jenner & Block represented Pechiney in the McCook Metals Case and General Electric in the United Airlines case, which is also under scrutiny according to lynch.

Witnesses to the events of July 20, 2006 have revealed that federal marshals did not know if Mr. Lynch would remain in custody after he was escorted into the interrogation room. Two marshals entered an adjacent room in which Judge Wedoff was waiting behind the door in an apparent agitated state as evidenced by his pacing, hand wringing, and facial expression claims witness Dr. Shelia Mannix. When questioned after exiting the room with Judge Wedoff, a federal marshal confirmed that Mr. Lynch was free to go after the completion of the 341 examination.

Further, since the uncovering of the alleged bribery fund, Mr. Lynch has chosen to lawfully pursue federal actions against state and federal court agents for alleged wrongdoing that resulted in the collapse of Lynch's McCook Metals in August 2001 and subsequent improper corporate and personal bankruptcy proceedings. However, Judge Wedoff's refusal to grant Mr. Lynch's motions to dismiss the improper bankruptcy proceedings indicate an alleged conspiracy to cover up alleged judicial wrongdoing and obstruction of justice according to Lynch.

Lynch Claims further, on July 8th, 2006 in alleged retaliation against Lynch and his family and further alleged obstruction of justice, Judge Wedoff ordered the locks changed at the Lynch family home, thereby putting the family's safety at risk, and ordered a turnover of all personal property including legal documents pertaining to judicial corruption in the federal court of the Northern District of Illinois.

Michael W. Lynch - Former Chairman Of McCook Metals - Fighting Judicial Retaliation Against His Family and Himself for Uncovering Judicial Corruption in Chicago Federal Bankruptcy Court
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CHICAGO -- More evidence of $40 Million 'Judicial Bribery Fund' turned over to civil and criminal authorities

On July 11, 2006, without notice or due process, Federal Bankruptcy Court Judge Wedoff ordered Michael Lynch to sit for his third 341 examination. Despite filing for his dismissal of his personal bankruptcy due the discovery by Lynch and Federal authorities of extensive judicial corruption in his courtroom, Judge Wedoff is retaliating against Mr. Lynch's wife, children, brother and mother in attempt to intimidate and silence Lynch, according to Lynch.

On July 20, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 744, Judge Wedoff has ordered that Federal Marshals shall take Lynch into custody and force him to attend his third bankruptcy interrogation proceeding.

These alleged unlawful orders indicating alleged coercion under duress were entered despite Michael W. Lynch filing motions to dismiss his bankruptcy proceedings March 2006 and July 2006. Instead choosing to lawfully pursue federal actions against the attorneys Ted Cornell and Gus Palioan of Seyfarth Shaw, officers of General Electric Commercial Finance (GECC), and federal court agents for alleged wrongdoing that resulted in the forced collapse of Lynch's McCook Metals in August 2001, Judge Wedoff has allegedly threatened Mr. Lynch and his family for Lynch's now public exposure of Judicial Corruption in his courtroom and the Seventh Circuit.

Judge Wedoff's rulings are evidence of apparent judicial retaliation, according to Lynch. Bankruptcy is at the sole discretion of the debtor and cannot be imposed upon a citizen by the government. Judge Wedoff is allegedly using forced bankruptcy proceedings as a weapon against Lynch to cover up for alleged crimes committed by Judge Wedoff for which further material evidence has been turned over to civil and criminal authorities, according to Lynch.

Lynch comments, "Operation Greylord came out of Chicago courts. The idea that there may still exist alleged "criminals in black robes" is not foreign to this city. But my heart is heavy to be on the receiving end of actions defiling our great US Constitution by those who have taken oaths to safeguard it, while our young patriots are willing to die abroad fighting for its principles of democracy and due process."

Michael W. Lynch - former Chairman of McCook Metals - files legal papers in Chicago Federal Court disclosing the judicial 'Bribery Fund' uncovered during McCook Metals bankruptcy proceedings.