"Realtor of the Year" Arrested
Since Russell was discovered to be robbing vets, his Caribbean vacations with stolen money, his previous track record misappropriating state funds and other facets of his life have drawn a lot of scrutiny. But what drew little notice in this increasingly complex investigation is that Tim Russell is also a realtor, one of the many who are close to Walker.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that John Doe investigators are looking for signs of real estate bid-rigging in the county government during the time Walker was County Executive. The county owns hundreds of acres of land it sells to developers. It deals with thousands of leases and millions of dollars in state and federal housing funds. It does a lot of business with realtors.
The media was alerted to this new line of investigation when Andrew Jensen Jr., "Wisconsin's Realtor of the Year" for 2010 was thrown in jail for a day last December by the Milwaukee prosecutor for failing to cooperate with the secret investigation. Jensen is a commercial real estate broker with the Boerke Company, a Walker campaign contributor, and past chairman of the Commercial Association of Realtors-Wisconsin (CARW). Walker has acknowledged knowing Jensen slightly.
According to the Journal Sentinel, Jensen was involved in an controversial effort to move the county’s Department of Aging to a different, private location, after a rushed five hour bid. The DA appears to be squeezing Jensen for information. He may be seeking information the Department of Aging incident, other real estate deals or on a raft of characters in Walker’s "inner circle" who had real estate business with the county.
Walker’s "Inner Circle"
http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2012020714/will-walkers-love-affair-realtors-come-back-haunt-him
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