Jul 20, 2007 6:11 am US/Central
Vrdolyak Faces New Charges In Real Estate Deal
Indictment Says Vrdolyak Conspired To Get Kickback In Building Sale
CHICAGO (AP) ―
A federal grand jury has added four more counts to an indictment against a former Chicago alderman accused of scheming to get a $1.5 million kickback in a real estate deal.
Edward Vrdolyak, a powerful Democratic alderman in the 1980s, pleaded not guilty in May to four counts of fraud and bribery. A superseding indictment released Thursday added four more counts of wire fraud.
The indictment accuses Vrdolyak of plotting with millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine to get money from a developer that wanted to buy a building on Chicago's Gold Coast.
Levine -- chairman of the board of Chicago Medical School, which owned the building -- sought to freeze out rival buyers in favor of Smithfield Properties, which wanted to redevelop the building for condos, the indictment said.
Vrdolyak allegedly told Levine that Smithfield was interested in the property. The two discussed a $2 million cash payment by Smithfield to a charitable trust from which Levine benefited personally, according to the indictment.
They settled on a scheme under which the payment would be $1.5 million, or 10 percent of the $15 million sale price, and Vrdolyak would receive a cut for his services as a middleman, according to the indictment.
But a federal investigation called Operation Board Games intervened and the money never changed hands. Neither the medical school nor Smithfield are charged with wrongdoing.
Telephone messages were left for defense attorneys after business hours Thursday.
One of the attorneys, Michael Monico, signaled after Vrdolyak pleaded not guilty in May that the defense may attack Levine's credibility.
Levine already has admitted that he used his membership on two state boards to pressure contractors for kickbacks and pleaded guilty to fraud. He has been helping federal prosecutors in corruption investigations in hopes of obtaining a lighter sentence.
Vrdolyak was chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and alderman of the 10th Ward who switched parties and ran for mayor unsuccessfully as a Republican.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
