3 city workers accused of bribery.
3 city workers accused of bribery
Plumbing inspector allegedly caught in sting
March 30, 2007, Chicago Sun Times
BY STEVE WARMBIR AND ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporters
It was a shakedown by sign language. When a contractor needed a city plumbing inspector to sign off on questionable work at a West Side home, the inspector shot up five fingers, authorities say.
A bribe was in the air, but the contractor needed clarification. Fifty dollars? he asked the inspector. No, $500, came the reply, authorities say.
City inspector John Chamberlain, 58, and two former city employees were charged with bribery Thursday as the investigation of corruption in the city’s Building Department continues under the city’s inspector general, David Hoffman. It brings the total charged so far to nine people, seven of them onetime city employees.
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Plumbing inspector John Chamberlain.
“There is no place in city government for this kind of corrupt activity,” Hoffman said, adding that portions of the bribe discussions were secretly recorded.
Chamberlain, who made more than $85,000 a year, allegedly took $1,500 in bribes in December and January — $500 to sign off on work that allegedly exceeded the scope of a city permit and $1,000 to provide a fraudulent letter.
On Dec. 12, the contractor got shaken down, allegedly by Chamberlain, but the contractor told him he would have to call his son for the money.
The contractor reported the shakedown to the inspector general’s office, which sent an investigator to pose as the son. The investigator allegedly paid $200 in one meeting, then $300 in another.
The investigator also pretended he wanted to hire an unlicensed plumber for another rehab project but needed a letter from a licensed contractor saying he was going to do the work, to get city permits. Chamberlain got a fake letter from a real contractor and charged the inspector $1,000 for it, the allegations state.
Others charged
Chamberlain, who worked for the city for more than 18 years, has confessed to what he did, Cook County authorities said. He is on paid administrative leave from the city pending investigation. The unnamed contractor is expected to be investigated, too.
A former Buildings Department employee, Tjuana Freeman, 39, was charged Thursday with taking a $1,500 bribe from a contractor when she worked for the city to get him a masonry contractor’s certificate when she knew he wasn’t qualified, authorities said. A warrant has been issued for her arrest.
A former administrative assistant in the Department of Construction and Permits, VerGina Harris, 51, was charged Thursday with taking a $300 bribe on two occasions to provide stair repair permits to an investigator posing as an unlicensed contractor.
Judge Thomas Hennelly on Thursday set bond for Chamberlain and Harris at $10,000 each.
March 30 2007 11:24 pm | Bribes
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