Blagojevich's wife eyed in property deals

CHICAGO, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Patricia Blagojevich, wife of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was already facing scrutiny for real estate deals before her husband's arrest, sources say.

U.S. prosecutors for several years had been investigating real estate sales involving Patricia "Patti" Blagojevich, a former residential real estate agent, before she was accused last week of helping her husband trade the vacant U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama for personal gain, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday.

Patti Blagojevich has had an eight-year working relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a once-influential developer and Blagojevich fundraiser who was found guilty this summer on influence-peddling charges, the newspaper said.

A real estate source told the Tribune that FBI agents had contacted her with questions about Blagojevich's role in the 2004 sale of a $3.2 million Chicago home owned by an investment banker and contributor to the governor's campaign fund.

In their criminal complaint filed against the governor, U.S. prosecutors allege Patti Blagojevich helped her husband with his plans to "auction" the Senate seat, and that in the process, said she would like to land herself a profitable spot on a corporate board, the Tribune said.