Marathon Pundit: ILL-inois: Chicago official in charge of red-light cameras charged with bribery

Western Avenue--home of
many red-light cameras

Here's another reason to hate those Chicago red-light cameras.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The former City Hall manager who ran Chicago's red-light camera program was arrested today on federal charges related to the investigation of an alleged $2 million bribery scheme involving the city's longtime vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems.

A federal complaint filed in U.S. District Court today accused John Bills of taking money and other benefits related to the contract with Redlfex. Mayor Rahm Emanuel fired the company amid the bribery scandal.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Phoenix-based Redflex funneled cash and other benefits, including an Arizona condominium, to Bills since before the contract was signed in 2003.

The Tribune first revealed questions about a questionable relationship between Bills and Redflex in the fall of 2012, triggering a scandal that has shaken the foundation of the company and its Australian parent, Redflex Holdings Ltd., which acknowledged last year that its Chicago program was built on what federal authorities would likely consider a $2 million bribery scheme involving Bills. Six top Redflex officials were jettisoned, and the company has come under scrutiny for its procurement practices across the country.

The Redflex scandal erupted in October 2012, after the Tribune obtained a 2-year-old internal Redflex whistleblower memo by an ousted vice president that detailed the alleged bribery scheme and lavish company-paid vacations for Bills and suggested "the level of this insider fraud would take down the contract and most likely the company."

Bills--should we call him "Dollar" Bills?"--was charged with one count of bribery. If found guilty, Bills could face a 10 year prison term and a $250,000 fine.

Bills is a longtime precinct captain for the organization of state House Speaker Michael Madigan of the Southwest Side. Madigan is also chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.

There is a hidden cost to this sort of graft that can fairly called a corruption tax.

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