House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has used an Illinois trust to invest in real estate near the proposed route of the Prairie Parkway, a highway project for which he's secured $207 million in earmarked appropriations. The trust has already transferred 138 acres of land to a real estate development firm that has plans to build a 1,600-home community, located less than six miles from the north-south connector Hastert has championed in the House.

Hastert's 2005 financial disclosure form, released today, makes no mention of the trust. Hastert lists several real estate transactions in the disclosure, all of which were in fact done by the trust. Kendall County public records show no record of Hastert making the real estate sales he made public today; rather, they were all executed by the trust.

The trust, called the Little Rock Trust #225, transferred 138 acres of farmland in which Hastert had an interest to a company called RALC-Plano LLC on Dec. 7, 2005. (See Document 1, attached) Illinois Secretary of State records show that the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Robert Arthur Land Company. The company\ufffds Web site lists plans for a Plano development called North County, with lots for 1,635 homes, 33 acres for commercial and retail businesses, and 18 acres set aside for a public school.

The proposed path of the Prairie Parkway is a little more than 5.5 miles to the east of the development; the Kendall County Board has already voted in favor of putting an interchange on Galena Road, giving residents of the new development easy access to the highway.

[...]

Hastert\ufffds use of the trust obscured his ownership interest in particular parcels of property. For example, Hastert listed, on his 2004 financial disclosure form, that he had acquired a "1/4 share in 69 acres (Plano, Ill.)" on Feb. 17, 2004. However, a search of Kendall County public records for Hastert's name revealed no such purchase. Instead, Little Rock Trust #225 acquired the property, effectively hiding Hastert\ufffds interest in the land. (See Document 2.)

On May 2, 2005, the Hasterts transferred an additional 69 acres of land--part of the property they bought as a primary residence in 2002--to the trust. (see Document 3.)

Those two properties, according to Kendall County\ufffds online real estate records, were sold by the Little Rock Trust to RALC-Plano for more than $4.9 million on Dec. 7, 2005.

The trust was established on February 9, 2004. Under Illinois law, trusts have no obligation to make public the identity of their beneficiaries. The Little Rock Trust #225 documents do show that the trustee is Dallas C. Ingemunson, who wears multiple hats in Illinois and Kendall County politics. He serves as treasurer of Hastert's federal campaign committee, chairman of the Kendall County Republican Party, and is sometimes described as Hastert's political mentor.