Category Archives: Press Releases

A criminal complaint has been unsealed against Michael Cease, an inspector in the City of Chicago’s Department of Environment. Cease is charged with federal bribery for allegedly accepting two cash bribe payments totaling $1,150 in September. The 39-year-old was arrested following an investigation by the City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office and the FBI.

A City of Chicago building inspector was arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint for allegedly accepting cash bribes. The complaint alleges Dominick Owens took more than $20,000 in bribes. In return for delivering Certificates of Occupancy for numerous construction projects.

A jury in U.S. District Court has convicted Michael Reese (a Supervising Building/Construction Inspector for the City of Chicago) on two counts of making false statements and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. Reese becomes the 12th person convicted as part of “Operation Crooked Code”, a joint investigation between the Department of Justice and […]

The Cook County State’s Attorneys Office announced a four-count indictment today against a former employee of the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs. During the course of an unrelated investigation in July 2008, the Inspector General’s Office discovered a copy of a $20,000 check, made out to the defendant, Ming Liu. Because the check’s signature was […]

A city of Chicago building inspector was arrested today on federal charges for allegedly accepting a $1,000 cash bribe from a cooperating contractor to approve an inspection at a residential construction site. Jose Hernandez allegedly solicited cash bribes totaling tens of thousands of dollars from contractors, developers and homeowners since at least 2005, according to […]

The Illinois Reform Commission (IRC) issued its 100-day report today, recommending a wide range of ethics reforms in six key areas: campaign finance; procurement; enforcement; government structure; transparency; and inspiring better government. The Commission was chaired by former U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins, and members include City of Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman.