Former state Sen. Annazette Collins was caught submitting false insurance policies for people who did not apply for them or “did not exist” after leaving the state legislature and taking a job selling insurance, federal prosecutors disclosed Friday.
Those policies were tied to bank accounts controlled either by Collins or her daughter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Parthum told a judge.
The disclosure came Friday after Collins signaled she would testify during her ongoing trial for allegedly dodging nearly $100,000 in taxes. No criminal charges have been filed against Collins in connection with the insurance policy allegations.
Prosecutors had previously disclosed Collins was fired from her job at American Income Life Insurance, but they said they would not seek to disclose the reason unless she decided to take the stand.
Collins began working as an insurance agent for the company in December 2013, prosecutors have said. She was terminated on Sept. 23, 2014, “for cause and violation of company policy and regulations,” records show.
U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso ruled jurors could hear about the allegation if Collins took the stand. However, following that ruling, Collins’ attorney said she had changed her mind — and would not testify.
That set the stage for closing arguments Friday afternoon. Jurors then began to deliberate shortly before 4 p.m. They left the courthouse for the night about two hours later without reaching a verdict, and are expected to return Monday.
Federal investigations have swirled around Collins for years. Her name surfaced in two separate corruption trials last year, including the trial of four political insiders convicted of a nearly decade-long conspiracy to bribe former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to benefit ComEd.
Not only did her name come up during testimony in that trial, but jurors last year saw a handwritten list of favored lobbyists that included the name “Annazette.”
It appeared on stationery from the Talbott Hotel and was purportedly dubbed the “magic list” by Madigan confidant Michael McClain.
Collins’ lobbying firm did work for ComEd and AT&T Illinois, both of which are caught up in the investigation that also led to charges against Madigan and McClain.
The tax charges against Collins stem from the same investigation.
Meanwhile, jurors in last year’s separate trial of businessman James Weiss heard that Collins also worked as a lobbyist for Weiss’ company, Collage LLC. Weiss was convicted of bribing then-state Rep. Luis Arroyo and then-state Sen. Terry Link, and is now serving a 66-month prison sentence.
