Editor's note: Your ProbateShark wonders what was covered up during his Chicago bout as comptroller. All one has to view is the cover up in the Probate Court of Cook County and the ARDC to realize "wonder of wonders" of corruption. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Former Chicago comptroller sentenced to 15 years in Ohio scheme
Former Chicago Comptroller Amer Ahmad received a 15-year federal prison sentence Monday for his role in a bribery and money laundering scheme from his time as Ohio’s deputy treasurer.
Ahmad, 40, pleaded guilty nearly a year ago to participating in the kickback scheme that pre-dated his time as a top financial adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Ahmad fled to Pakistan and was arrested there in late April after officials said he tried to enter the country using a forged Mexican passport and a forged Pakistani visa.
Ahmad remains in Pakistani custody pending an extradition request from the U.S. government, federal officials said Monday. U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson ordered Ahmad to forfeit $3.2 million after earlier seizing $107,000 from Ahmad’s bank accounts.
His arrest in Pakistan came about a week after his wife, Samar Ahmad, filed a request for an order of protection in Cook County in which she alleged that Ahmad had sought a fake passport to go to Pakistan and had threatened to hurt her and kidnap their children.
Ahmad pleaded guilty along with three other co-conspirators in the scheme. Prosecutors said Ahmad gave Ohio state investment work to a former high school classmate in exchange for $400,000 being funneled to a landscaping company he part-owned and an additional $123,000 diverted to a friend.
He abruptly resigned as Chicago comptroller in July 2013 and was indicted by a federal grand jury weeks later.
Ahmad had been under federal investigation for more than five months before Emanuel hired him as comptroller, the Tribune has reported. Ahmad’s previous boss, then-Ohio Treasurer Kevin Boyce, was aware of a federal investigation into his office, including a “very comprehensive” federal subpoena that sought Boyce's and Ahmad’s phone records, the Tribune reported. Boyce, who currently serves as an Ohio state lawmaker, recommended Ahmad for his job in Chicago after he had learned of the federal investigation.
Emanuel has said he did not know Ahmad was under investigation when he hired him and criticized Boyce and Ahmad for not being “forthcoming” with his office.
Prior to his hire as Chicago’s comptroller, Ahmad had worked on business deals with Lois Scott, Emanuel’s chief financial officer.
When he worked as Ohio deputy treasurer, Ahmad awarded Scott’s consulting firm $165,000 in bond business in 2010, the Tribune reported. After Scott came aboard as Emanuel’s top financial adviser, she awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in Chicago bond work to a firm that employed Boyce after he lost his re-election bid as Ohio treasurer, the Tribune reported.
Following Ahmad’s arrest, Emanuel called on his corporation counsel, Stephen Patton, and city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to conduct a joint audit of Ahmad’s activity. The review found Ahmad did not engage in any wrongdoing at City Hall.
According to the audit, Ahmad and Scott both said the former comptroller was not involved in any decision-making related to bond deals, including the business awarded to Boyce’s firm. As part of the audit, Ahmad acknowledged he was copied on some emails from Boyce to Scott. The Emanuel administration declined to make those messages available when releasing its audit.
In addition to Ahmad, Chicago businessman Joseph Chiavaroli, 34, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for his role in the corruption scheme. Prosecutors alleged Chiavaroli co-owned a landscaping company with Ahmad that the two used to conceal $400,000 in bribes made by Ahmad’s high school friend in exchange for receiving state investment work.
That friend, Douglas E. Hampton, received $3.2 million in commissions for 360 securities trades on behalf of the Ohio treasurer’s office, prosecutors alleged. Hampton pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November to three years and 10 months in prison.
Mohammed Noure Alo, an attorney and lobbyist who was a close friend and business associate of Ahmad, received more than $123,000 in bribe payments from Hampton, prosecutors alleged. Alo pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to four years in prison.
Ahmad, 40, pleaded guilty nearly a year ago to participating in the kickback scheme that pre-dated his time as a top financial adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Ahmad fled to Pakistan and was arrested there in late April after officials said he tried to enter the country using a forged Mexican passport and a forged Pakistani visa.
Ahmad remains in Pakistani custody pending an extradition request from the U.S. government, federal officials said Monday. U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson ordered Ahmad to forfeit $3.2 million after earlier seizing $107,000 from Ahmad’s bank accounts.
His arrest in Pakistan came about a week after his wife, Samar Ahmad, filed a request for an order of protection in Cook County in which she alleged that Ahmad had sought a fake passport to go to Pakistan and had threatened to hurt her and kidnap their children.
He abruptly resigned as Chicago comptroller in July 2013 and was indicted by a federal grand jury weeks later.
Emanuel has said he did not know Ahmad was under investigation when he hired him and criticized Boyce and Ahmad for not being “forthcoming” with his office.
Prior to his hire as Chicago’s comptroller, Ahmad had worked on business deals with Lois Scott, Emanuel’s chief financial officer.
Following Ahmad’s arrest, Emanuel called on his corporation counsel, Stephen Patton, and city Inspector General Joseph Ferguson to conduct a joint audit of Ahmad’s activity. The review found Ahmad did not engage in any wrongdoing at City Hall.
According to the audit, Ahmad and Scott both said the former comptroller was not involved in any decision-making related to bond deals, including the business awarded to Boyce’s firm. As part of the audit, Ahmad acknowledged he was copied on some emails from Boyce to Scott. The Emanuel administration declined to make those messages available when releasing its audit.
In addition to Ahmad, Chicago businessman Joseph Chiavaroli, 34, was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for his role in the corruption scheme. Prosecutors alleged Chiavaroli co-owned a landscaping company with Ahmad that the two used to conceal $400,000 in bribes made by Ahmad’s high school friend in exchange for receiving state investment work.
That friend, Douglas E. Hampton, received $3.2 million in commissions for 360 securities trades on behalf of the Ohio treasurer’s office, prosecutors alleged. Hampton pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November to three years and 10 months in prison.
Mohammed Noure Alo, an attorney and lobbyist who was a close friend and business associate of Ahmad, received more than $123,000 in bribe payments from Hampton, prosecutors alleged. Alo pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to four years in prison.
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