Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Continues

BySapna

BREAKING NEWS: Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Continues

Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation continues by federal investigators.

  • Last year, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies launched an investigation into potential property tax fraud committed by current Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and his wife MK Pritzker
  • The freshman governor denied any allegations of wrongdoing
  • Governor JB Pritzker said the FBI cleared him and his wife, MK Pritzker, of any wrongdoing
  • This is not the case
  • JB Pritzker’s property tax fraud investigation was never cleared

On the contrary, the felony criminal investigation of JB and MK Pritzker property tax fraud investigation is in full steam ahead and is expanding to everyone involved with the potential criminal acts.

Illinois Tops The Nation As The Most Corrupt State For Decades

Public corruption cost Illinoisans millions in taxpayer dollars. Corruption in Illinois outranks any state in the United States. Thousands of politicians, judges, police officers and public workers have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for public corruption over the decades. Illinois has been plagued by public corruption for decades:

  • Six Illinois governors have been charged with crimes
  • Four Illinois governors have been convicted
  • JB Pritzker can be the seventh Illinois governor charged with a crime
  • If arrested and convicted, JB Pritzker will be the fifth governor convicted and sentenced to prison
  • Pritzker is under major heat during his first term
  • Many voters are calling for Pritzker’s impeachment while others are criticizing him for his incompetence in running the state budget and handling of the coronavirus pandemic
  • Pritzker is known nationally for raising taxes and not cutting spending and expediting Illinois to bankruptcy

In this breaking news article, we will discuss and cover the Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Continues.

Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Continues In A State With A Reputation For Corruption

It did not take freshman rookie Governor JB Pritzker long to get under federal criminal investigation after taking office.

  • JB Pritzker removed toilets from his Chicago mansion in an effort to avoid paying higher property taxes according to Cook County Inspector General
  • The Cook County Inspector General called JB Pritzker’s actions a “scheme to defraud” taxpayers
  • In general, property owners pay less in property taxes on an unhabitable home
  • JB Pritzker’s multi-million dollar townhouse was fully habitable until he ordered his plumber to remove all toilets so his property tax appeals attorneys can classify it as an unhabitable home
  • This is often the oldest trick in the trade
  • It is obvious that Pritzker ordered his toilets removed from the residence so he can claim it as not habitable
  • JB Pritzker also owned a home next to the home that all the toilets were removed
  • Federal investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s offices of the Northern District of Illinois and FBI agents have been working diligently on collecting records that are related to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Gold Coast mansion property tax break

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys Office have been requesting records including emails from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Tied To Other Public Corruption

On Friday, July 17th, 2020, federal officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago announced Commonwealth Edison Company has agreed to pay $200 million to resolve a federal criminal investigation into a years-long bribery scheme.

  • It was a plea agreement between the U.S. Attorney and Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd)
  • The case is resolved through a deferred prosecution agreement between ComEd and the federal government
  • Under the agreement, ComEd agrees that the company has arranged jobs, subcontracts of vendors, and monetary payments linked with the jobs and subcontracts obtained through bribes
  • Jobs and lucrative subcontracts were awarded to friends and family members of high-level elected politicians

In lieu of lucrative jobs, state officials steered favorable legislation to ComEd that would benefit the electric giant.

Major Federal Criminal Bribery Scandal Tied To Pritzker’s Criminal Investigation

Governor JB Pritzker has been shrugging off his federal criminal investigation of his property tax fraud since the investigation began last April 2019.

  • Pritzker even shrugged off the property tax matter was resolved and he personally reimbursed the tax savings of $331,000 to the county
  • Pritzker announced last year that the matter was closed and he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Feds last year
  • This is not true
  • Pritzker seems like he is in a lot of hot water and his criminal property tax fraud investigation is far from being closed
  • His property tax fraud investigation seems like there are ties to other criminal activity that is tied to other politicians, especially Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan and Chicago Alderman Edward Burke
  • Both Madigan and Burke own law firms specializing in property tax appeals which is a very lucrative field of law

The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued the following statement:

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office today filed a one-count criminal information in U.S. District Court in Chicago charging ComEd with bribery.  Under the agreement, the government will defer prosecution on the charge for three years and then seek to dismiss it if ComEd abides by certain conditions, including continuing to cooperate with ongoing investigations of individuals or other entities related to the conduct described in the bribery charge.

Federal prosecutors have been requesting records from the Cook County assessor’s office about a $331,000 tax break the governor got after removing the toilets during the remodeling of a mansion he owns next to his own home. Authorities sought the name of every employee who was involved in the tax break, along with associated communications. Pritzker’s improper and illegal tax breaks happened during the tenure of former Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios. The current Cook County Assessor is Fritz Kaegi. Officials said that County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has been fully cooperating with the feds with the requests of records and emails pertaining to Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s property tax fraud investigation.

Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation Initially Started In April 2019

Illinois Governor Property Tax Fraud Investigation started last April 2019.

  • At that time, JB Pritzker along with his wife, MK Pritzker, ordered their plumbers to remove the toilets to the home they owned next to their primary residence in the Gold Coast of Chicago
  • The reason for ordering to removing the toilets is so that they can classify the home not habitable
  • Non-habitable homes get a tax break
  • JB Pritzker and MK Pritzker then appealed their property taxes stating the property taxes were too high for an unhabitable home
  • Once the home inspectors of the Assessor’s Office inspected the home, JB Pritzker and MK Pritzker had their plumbers reinstall the toilets
  • When the news leaked, JB Pritzker promised he would not accept the tax break and pay the $331,000 tax break he got for his home being in an unhabitable status
  • Pritzker thought that would cool off the federal investigation and the case would come to a close
  • This has backfired on JB Pritzker
  • Federal investigators continued investigating the rookie governor who thought he almost got away with it

In 2018, the Cook County Inspector General called Pritzker’s plan in getting a property tax break a “scheme to defraud.”