The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published its Quarterly Report for the second quarter of 2025, which summarizes concluded investigations, inquiries, intakes, and other operations of OIG, from April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025. This report has been filed with City Council, as required by § 2-56-120 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (MCC).
This quarter, OIG received 2,551 new intakes. Of OIG’s 318 active misconduct investigations at the close of the quarter, 264 are into City employees; 26 into elected officials; 20 into contractors, subcontractors, and persons seeking contracts; and eight into others. OIG concluded 14 investigations this quarter.
The efforts reported this quarter include sustained administrative investigations in which OIG found:
- a Department of Water Management (DWM) hoisting engineer was clocking into work and then returning home on City time;
- a business compliance investigator with the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection was arrested for driving while their driver’s license was suspended as the result of a Driving Under the Influence arrest, and tried to use their City position to avoid arrest and charging;
- a former assistant commissioner with the Department of Housing and a Chicago Police Department member fraudulently obtained pandemic-era Payroll Protection Program loans;
- an airport operations supervisor with the Chicago Department of Aviation fraudulently obtained 14 identification cards from several states outside of Illinois;
- a Department of Finance auditor sold cocaine and misused City sick time to testify in federal court; and
- a DWM plumber illegally possessed a loaded firearm while on the clock and travelling between City worksites.
Also reported in this quarter, OIG issued notifications to the Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Department of Procurement Services (DPS) that the owners of a construction company, which held an active mason contractor license with the City, had been indicted for fraud; in response, DOB revoked the mason contractor license, and DPS found the vendor ineligible to do business with the City until a final adjudication is made with respect to the criminal offense. OIG also notified the Department of Streets and Sanitation about data privacy concerns for 311 users, and identified and effected the return of $5,220 in improper campaign contributions.
“We will continue our work paying down the deficit of legitimacy at which the City has operated for years. An illegal campaign contribution returned, a City employee fired for stealing time, another held to account for trying to use their position to get out of an arrest—this is what that effort looks like. We will keep at it until we have built a government that more closely resembles the one Chicagoans deserve,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago.
Read the Report
Read the full report, released on July 15, 2025.
About the Office of Inspector General
The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.
If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.
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