Campaign donors were rewarded with political appointments, said a former aide to Rod Blagojevich, testifying at the former Illinois governor's corruption trial.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Thursday that Alonzo "Lon"Monk, taking the stand for a second day, said he and fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin "Tony" Rezko sat down with Blagojevich to discuss appointments to open positions at commissions and state boards.

Rezko allegedly told the other three "some of these board spots were high profile enough that at a minimum some of these people should be donating $25,000."

The Tribune further said that Monk testified Blagojevich called such high-profile appointments "ambassadorships," referring to the presidential practice of rewarding deep-pocket donors with foreign ambassadorships.

Monk alleged developer Rezko, a key fundraiser for Blagojevich, later convicted of corruption, was the mastermind of the illicit plans. Monk said Rezko charted out ideas on a chalkboard outlining how "hundreds of thousands of dollars" could be made.

It was also reported by the Tribune that one scenario described by Monk, never executed, was to secretly take over the troubled Near North Insurance Brokerage of political insider Michael Segal, himself later convicted, and use it to broker insurance to the state. Monk said under that plan Rezko was to hold the profits until Blagojevich left office.

Monk testified Blagojevich shook his head and took notes. Blagojevich's wife Patti at times rubbed her neck and scanned the courtroom with what the Tribune described as an amazed look.

The plotting to use the governor's office to make money started even before Blagojevich was elected in 2002, said Monk, who has pleaded guilty in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Monk said Kelly actually broached the idea of making money off of the governor's office shortly before then. (With Inputs from Agencies)