Operation Crooked Code
Encyclopedia
Operation Crooked Code is a federal investigation into the corruption surrounding the City of Chicago's Department of Building and Zoning. As of September 2009, Operation Crooked Code had resulted in charges against more than two dozen individuals, 13 of them city inspectors charged with bribery and bribery related crimes. The investigated is spearheaded by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the United States Attorney in Chicago, with lead prosecutors Assistant U.S. Attorneys Juliet Sorensen
, April Perry and Christopher Hotaling. As of September 2009, the investigation had netted 12 convictions.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
, City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office, and United States Postal Inspection Service
participated in the investigation of the Zoning and Building Departments Bribery Case. The evidence against the defendants includes recordings made by cooperating informants and a court-authorized wiretap on the developer Beny Garneata, who pled guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2009. Cooperating informants include a city inspector and an expediter, who acted as a “bagman” for developers to pay bribes in exchange for approval of building projects.
In announcing the arrests of 15 individuals as part of the Crooked Code investigation in May 2008, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said, “The picture painted by the criminal charges filed today shows sadly that the permit process in Chicago
is governed by a separate set of rules for those who pay to corrupt the system. These charges also show that last year’s arrests did not change the system enough. It didn’t stop the bribery. It just changed how the bribery was done; they got sneakier. Today’s charges put on notice everyone who would think about paying, receiving, arranging or delivering a bribe that they will be caught and, when they are, will face jail.”
The arrests and charges of the 15 defendants were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Thomas P. Brady, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and David Hoffman, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. The 15 defendants held positions including: property owners, developers, contractors, and seven city of Chicago inspectors. Nine were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery while the remaining six defendants were charged with one count of bribery. In seven of these cases, defendants solicited help from a cooperating witness. Through this witness, a long time business person who takes permit applications and other construction issues to the city on behalf of homeowners and developers, defendants were able to pay or receive bribes without physically presenting themselves.
Former Chicago Inspector General David H. Hoffman
said: “Taxpayers pay city inspectors to enforce the law. Instead, the city employees charged today used their position to help people violate the law. For thousands of dollars in bribes, they wrote false inspection reports and issued fraudulent certificates. Our building-safety and zoning laws become meaningless when corrupt city employees help real-estate developers break the laws.”
Juliet Sorensen
Juliet Sorensen is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago. She has prosecuted City of Chicago inspectors as part of Operation Crooked Code, a bribery investigation into Chicago’s Building and Zoning departments....
, April Perry and Christopher Hotaling. As of September 2009, the investigation had netted 12 convictions.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office, and United States Postal Inspection Service
United States Postal Inspection Service
The United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. Its jurisdiction is defined as "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S...
participated in the investigation of the Zoning and Building Departments Bribery Case. The evidence against the defendants includes recordings made by cooperating informants and a court-authorized wiretap on the developer Beny Garneata, who pled guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2009. Cooperating informants include a city inspector and an expediter, who acted as a “bagman” for developers to pay bribes in exchange for approval of building projects.
In announcing the arrests of 15 individuals as part of the Crooked Code investigation in May 2008, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said, “The picture painted by the criminal charges filed today shows sadly that the permit process in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
is governed by a separate set of rules for those who pay to corrupt the system. These charges also show that last year’s arrests did not change the system enough. It didn’t stop the bribery. It just changed how the bribery was done; they got sneakier. Today’s charges put on notice everyone who would think about paying, receiving, arranging or delivering a bribe that they will be caught and, when they are, will face jail.”
The arrests and charges of the 15 defendants were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Thomas P. Brady, Postal Inspector-in-Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and David Hoffman, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. The 15 defendants held positions including: property owners, developers, contractors, and seven city of Chicago inspectors. Nine were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery while the remaining six defendants were charged with one count of bribery. In seven of these cases, defendants solicited help from a cooperating witness. Through this witness, a long time business person who takes permit applications and other construction issues to the city on behalf of homeowners and developers, defendants were able to pay or receive bribes without physically presenting themselves.
Former Chicago Inspector General David H. Hoffman
David H. Hoffman
David H. Hoffman is a former federal prosecutor and was Chicago's inspector general. On August 26, he declared his candidacy as a Democrat for the Illinois seat of the U.S. Senate...
said: “Taxpayers pay city inspectors to enforce the law. Instead, the city employees charged today used their position to help people violate the law. For thousands of dollars in bribes, they wrote false inspection reports and issued fraudulent certificates. Our building-safety and zoning laws become meaningless when corrupt city employees help real-estate developers break the laws.”