Posted on 09/25/2003 4:48:02 PM PDT by anniegetyourgun
CHICAGO (AP) - Two members of a prominent family close to Mayor Richard M. Daley were indicted on fraud charges Thursday, accused of getting more than $100 million in city contracts through schemes including passing off male-controlled businesses as woman-owned.
James Duff, 45, of Burr Ridge, and his mother Patricia Green Duff, 75, of Chicago, were among seven people charged with fraud and other counts.
James Duff's father, John Duff, has been a fund-raiser for Daley and members of the family have socialized with him.
The indictments follow a four-year investigation and mark the first time corruption charges have been brought against anyone so close to the mayor, although many aldermen and other Chicago political officials have been convicted of corruption in recent years.
"The city is the victim here," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald told a news conference. He said the indictment should send a warning to "those who regard city contracts as a trough to steal from."
Daley was not accused of any wrongdoing in the case. At a hastily called news conference at City Hall, city officials said the mayor did nothing wrong.
"There is absolutely no evidence that the mayor has ever been involved in the contracting process," said Mara Georges, corporation counsel for the city. "There is nothing about which anybody here at the city has to be embarrassed."
City officials certified several Duff-owned companies as woman-owned, which allowed the firms to get contracts reserved for women and minorities. The companies, mostly involved in maintenance work, lost their woman-owned status in 1999 after an investigation determined that male members of the Duff family were making the decisions.
James Duff's defense attorney James R. Streicker said his client will plead innocent.
"Obviously, I'm disappointed that my client has been indicted, but I'm also speaking for him when I say he's relieved," Streicker said. "He's been under investigation for almost four years. It has been a never-ending investigation that has been very torturous for him."
Mrs. Duff was charged with 11 counts of mail fraud. Her attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, said she "is confident that she did not engage in any conduct harmful to the City of Chicago."
Controversy over city business for Daley friends is not new.
Alderman Patrick Huels resigned from the city council in 1997 following disclosure that he helped a contractor and Daley friend get a subsidy. Huels, who was never charged, also received a $1.2 million loan from the contractor.
At the time, Daley said he had been "lax" and pushed an ethics ordinance through the council.
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