Federal probe hops on tollway
Officials seek files on oases eatery deals
By Virginia Groark and Rick Pearson
Tribune staff reporters
Published December 31, 2005

Federal prosecutors have opened a new avenue in their investigation of alleged pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration, subpoenaing the tollway authority for information about oases contracts with links to key political insiders.

The subpoenas were delivered to the tollway authority in October, officials said, eight months after the Tribune first reported that two of Blagojevich's closest friends, advisers and fundraisers had ties to food vendors that got contracts to operate in the oases.

The investigation into the tollway authority is the latest in a series of federal and state probes into allegations of political favoritism for an administration ushered into office vowing to end cronyism. Moreover, Blagojevich made management of the oft-criticized tollway authority a 2002 campaign issue, contending that "we need immediate reform of the way the tollway does business."

The October subpoena sought documents related to Panda Express and Subway restaurant contracts at the oases, tollway officials said Friday.

The Tribune reported in February that Blagojevich advisers Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Christopher Kelly had ties to those companies. The tollway authority and a spokesman for both men have said neither financially benefited from the Subway and Panda Express shops at the oases.

In addition to seeking information about the food service contracts, the subpoena also seeks records involving information about Los Angeles-based developer Wilton Partners. The firm's owner gave Blagojevich's campaign a $50,000 check just weeks after it began construction work under a 25-year contract to redevelop, manage and choose the restaurants at the tollway oases.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago had no comment about the subpoena. Tollway officials said they had complied with the request of federal prosecutors.

With an election year approaching, the subpoena was delivered to the tollway as Blagojevich was embarking on a schedule of campaign-style appearances to launch new open-road tolling lanes for I-PASS users at tollway plazas. The new toll lanes feature the governor's name on a large overhead sign.

Blagojevich campaign spokesman Doug Scofield said he believed voters in next year's elections are more concerned about "substantive issues" such as open-road tolling and making the tollway management more accountable to its users rather than a federal investigation.

"Regarding the tollway, this governor has fundamentally changed the way the tollway delivers services to people, and that was long overdue and badly needed," Scofield said. Citing I-PASS and open-road tolling, Scofield said, "I think that's appropriately what people are focused on and this governor is focused on."

Tollway officials said the federal subpoena requested correspondence between the agency and Wilton Partners, which is doing an $83 million overhaul of the seven rest stops. It also sought lease agreements and correspondence involving Rezko, Subway, Panda Express Restaurants, Famiglia DeBartolo Leasing Group and DB Pizza LLC, tollway officials said.

The Subway sandwich shops and the Panda Express restaurants are controlled by firms with ties to Rezko, a top Blagojevich adviser who helped place associates with jobs in the governor's administration and boasted of raising more than $500,000 for Blagojevich.

The Panda Express restaurants at the tollway are owned by the firm's corporate parent, but the firm also is a partner with Rezko in most of the other Panda Express restaurants in Illinois and four other Midwest states. Kelly is an investor in Rezko's portion of the Panda Express joint venture.

Rezko and Kelly were unavailable for comment. Kelly's attorney, Michael Monico, said, "All of the transactions involving my client were appropriate and aboveboard and we have no other comment."

The federal subpoena also sought any correspondence that involves Abdelhamid Chaib, a La Grange Park businessman who is a business partner and friend of Rezko's. The Subway franchises at the oases are owned by a firm headed by Chaib, and documents previously obtained by the Tribune showed Rezko's nephew, Rimon, as the manager of the sandwich shops.

Chaib also has donated $10,000 to the Blagojevich political fund run by Kelly. The governor also appointed Chaib's wife, Lori, to a $15,000-a-year, part-time position to a state board dealing with employment issues.

Contacted Friday, Chaib said he had not been subpoenaed. He would not comment when asked if he had appeared before a grand jury.

Tollway officials said the subpoena asked for information similar to what DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett sought in a Freedom of Information Act request he filed with the agency in March.

Tollway spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon said Friday that nothing has come of the requests. "Obviously no one has found any evidence of wrongdoing up to this point on the same topics that have been in discussion for up to a year," she said.

Another agency spokeswoman said tollway officials have not been asked to appear before a grand jury.

Scott Mayer, president of Wilton Partners, could not be reached for comment.

Although the tollway provided a copy of the subpoena to the Daily Herald under the Freedom of Information Act, on Friday it refused a similar request by the Tribune. Government sources said the governor's legal counsel blocked the Tribune's request after believing the tollway made a mistake in originally releasing it.