Oct 7, 2008 6:41 am US/Central
Dozens Of Companies Barred From City Business
Most Companies, Individuals Involved With Hired Truck, Minority Contracting Scandals
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
Twenty-five companies and 26 individuals -- most of them caught up in the Hired Truck and minority contracting scandals -- have been banned forever from doing business with the city.
"The city should be consistently sending the message that, no matter who you are and who you know, you'll be barred from benefiting from city contracts if you act unethically," said Inspector General David Hoffman, whose office investigated seven of the firms.
"I don't think Procurement has ever taken action against this many companies and individuals."
The city contracting equivalent of the death penalty targets 20 individuals and 18 companies convicted of criminal offenses in federal court. The debarment list includes Leahy & Assoc., John Leahy and Edward Wisniewski, co-defendants in the $100 million minority business fraud engineered by the mob-connected Duff family. It also targets companies involved in a fraudulent fence contract that victimized the Chicago Board of Education.
Seven companies and associated individuals were never convicted, but nevertheless handed lifetime bans after Hoffman found "substantial evidence" that they had either forged documents as part of the minority certification process, obstructed investigators or otherwise defrauded the city.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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