Former WSCR employee knew, but didn't tell North

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: Former WSCR host Shaer says he knew of Hernandez's past. : Posted by Ed S. : at 6/17/2009 11:39 AM CDT on Chicago Business : Tom Shaer has asked himself several times this week: "Should I have said something?" : Mr. Shaer, the former sports talk host at WSCR-AM 670, had dealings with David Hernandez during the 1990s and knew all about him being convicted for wire fraud in 1998, resulting in a 34-month sentence. : Mr. Shaer, though, said he didn't think it was his place to tell Mike North about Mr. Hernandez's past. Mr. North signed Mr. Hernandez's company, NextStep Medical Staffing, as the title sponsor for his "Monsters in the Morning" show on Comcast SportsNet and worked with him to help form Chicagosportswebio.com, an Internet sports talk station. : The station shut down Tuesday in the wake of SEC allegations that it was funded through a Ponzi scheme run by Mr. Hernandez that bilked investors out of $11 million. The SEC lawsuit filed Monday made Mr. Hernandez's previous conviction public. : Wednesday, the U.S. attorney's office issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Hernandez after charging him with wire fraud. : "I know Mike North and I consider him a friend," Mr. Shaer said. "However, I know if I had made that call, it wouldn't have been well-received. I didn't want to mess up Mike's deal. It seemed to be going fine. If there's one lesson I've learned in the media business - and it has taken me a long time to learn this lesson - it's that I should keep my nose out of other people's business." : Besides, Mr. Shaer said he had no reason to believe Mr. Hernandez wasn't running a legitimate business. : "He had deals with Comcast SportsNet, the White Sox, the Bears," Mr. Shaer said. "I didn't think they would get involved with the guy unless he had some sort of financial legitimacy." : Mr. Shaer's relationship with Mr. Hernandez began during his days at WSCR in the 1990s. He described Mr. Hernandez as a "Score groupie." He would hang out at remotes and frequently called in to the station, identifying himself as "Banker Dave." : Mr. Shaer met Mr. Hernandez through Mr. North. He recalled at a party at Mr. North's house in 1996, Mr. Hernandez, then a vice-president at Columbia Bank in Chicago, offered to help arrange refinancing for Mr. Shaer's house. Mr. Hernandez even offered Mr. Shaer use of his vacation house. : At that time, Mr. Shaer got the opportunity to invest in a restaurant. He asked Mr. Hernandez to split the investment with him. The deal didn't go through and Mr. Shaer sent a check to Mr. Hernandez returning his share of the money. : When it came time to complete the refinance deal for the house, Mr. Shaer learned Mr. Hernandez had been fired from the bank for alleged impropieties. The bank president completed the loan. : Shortly thereafter, Mr. Shaer received a call from an FBI agent asking about the check he wrote to Mr. Hernandez. : "The FBI wanted to make sure I wasn't investing with him," Mr. Shaer said. "When I asked if he was in trouble, the agent said, 'It's about as bad as it gets.' " : Mr. Hernandez eventually was convicted and served time in prison. : Flash forward to January 2009, and Mr. Shaer learns that NextStep, run by Mr. Hernandez, is sponsoring Mr. North's new show. : "I'm thinking, 'Holy Cow, is this the same David Hernandez?' " Mr. Shaer said. : Mr. Shaer then ran into Mr. Hernandez in the Loop. He invited Mr. Shaer to a meeting to discuss possible business deals. Mr. Shaer, currently a broadcast media consultant and free lance broadcaster, said he doesn't think Mr. Hernandez was aware he knew of his prison term. : Mr. Shaer decided to call the FBI agent who dealt with him in the 1990s. : "I asked if he knew anything about Hernandez's latest ventures," Mr. Shaer said. "He said he didn't. He told me sometimes people do turn their lives around and do legitimate work." : Mr. Shaer met at Mr. Hernandez's offices on the day of Barack Obama's inauguration. They discussed some ideas, but ultimately Mr. Shaer decided to take a pass. : "If I was going to involve my broadcast and media clients with David, it means I would be putting my stamp on David," Mr. Shaer said. "I never was comfortable doing that." : Looking back, Mr. Shaer wonders if the situation would have been any different if he had said something about Mr. Hernandez's past. But he believes he did the right thing by keeping quiet. : "It wasn't my place," he said.

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