What filmmaker doesn’t dream of receiving a no-strings-attached million dollars to fund his movie? And not be required to pay pesky interest or taxes on the money? Or repay investors?
That impossible dream can come true if you’re lucky enough to have a close Springfield connection, like Sen. Rickey Hendon, an assistant Senate majority leader and mayoral candidate.
Disclosure of Hendon’s taxpayer-funded beneficence to his relatives became public last week when U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald subpoenaed state agencies seeking copies of contracts and other financial records related to nearly 50 non-profit agencies and more than a dozen individuals.
A number of the agencies said they received grants with Hendon’s assistance and several individuals have ties to Hendon. Among those agencies was one run by his sister and her daughter.
