Category Archives: Press Releases

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.

A Chicago grand jury indicted the president and vice president of an Illinois refuse disposal container repair company for engaging in a conspiracy and scheme to defraud the city of Chicago on a contract for the repair of refuse carts. Douglas E. Ritter and Steven Fenzl were charged in a four-count indictment, the U.S. Department […]

The Illinois Reform Commission (IRC), whose members include City of Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman, today announced a series of reform proposals covering campaign finance, procurement, enforcement and transparency.