Latest from Tim Novak
Following questions from the Chicago Sun-Times in 2023, the Illinois Gaming Board moved to revoke the license that had allowed Jeffrey Bertucci’s Firebird Enterprises Inc., to operate video gaming machines at his Steak N Egger franchise in the west suburb. Because he’s appealing, the establishment is still allowed to keep the devices operational, raking in money.
The police officer told the FBI he left guns at the Chicago home of Jawad Fakroune, and they were later seized during a raid of Fakroune’s home in New York, according to court records. Fakroune is charged with extorting the owner of a Lincoln Park restaurant.
Rosallie Corvite ended up with one of the lightest punishments of the 16 people charged after federal regulators closed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in 2017, days after the bank’s CEO, John Gembara was found dead in a customer’s home.
Though Alex Pissios, who once headed up Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, denies either man was cheated, he has failed to get both lawsuits thrown out of court.
“We do not bill interest or penalty in the event of an assessor error,” says an aide to Assessor Fritz Kaegi. The agency’s records show it’s made them on 287 properties.
Lisa Duarte, now a high-profile lobbyist, says she’s a victim of Jawad Fakroune, who’s accused of shaking down a Lincoln Park restaurateur, but won’t say why she paid nearly $20K in property taxes on a Lemont estate where Fakroune lived that was raided by FBI.
“The values are going down downtown. Residential is going to take on a greater share of the tax bill,” an expert says, which could have broader implications for Chicago’s future.
Former Cinespace Chicago Film Studios executive Alexander S. “Alex” Pissios worked undercover for federal authorities after they threatened to charge him with bankruptcy fraud. Recently, he gave a $50,000 campaign contribution to Cook County’s new state’s attorney, Eileen O’Neill Burke.
That’s how much taxpayers had to pay when the University of Illinois pulled the plug on plans for its Discovery Partners Institute research hub at the sprawling 62-acre South Loop site being marketed as The 78.
A Sun-Times investigation had shown that Armando Saleh and other Cook County homeowners were getting tax breaks that are allowed only for a person’s principal residence on multiple properties.