Illinois political traditions die hard. Consider, for example, the tradition of ghost payrollers, those mysterious men and women who never show up for work, except to pick up a paycheck, and even then, would rather have it sent to their homes.

The phantoms of the public payroll would seem more out of place than ever these days, what with government officials claiming austerity and angry voters taking retribution for lesser sins. It doesn't take a reformer to figure out that today's taxpayers at minimum want a day's work for a day's pay from their public employees.

But it turns out that such old-fashioned chicanery has lived on in Cook County, where a wide-ranging federal probe of no-show government workers has produced numerous indictments and thrown a cloud over the careers of six current or former state legislators.

Three federal grand juries have been sorting out allegations of ghost payrolling at the Chicago City Council, Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals and Cook County sheriff's office. So far, nine people have been charged. Six have pleaded guilty, and the rest are expected to follow suit.

Although nobody from the General Assembly has been indicted, all the investigations still appear to be active. Among the legislators under scrutiny is Rep. William Laurino, a veteran Northwest Side Democrat whose stepmother and stepsister on May 3 became the third and fourth members of his family

24/June 1995/Illinois Issues

to be charged. All four are cooperating with prosecutors in the ongoing investigation that has targeted former Chicago Aid. Anthony C. Laurino, the legislator's father. The elder Laurino was longtime chairman of the City Council's Traffic Committee, a suspected ghost haven. Marie D'Amico, the legislator's sister, already has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to taking more than $82,000 for little or no work in three successive government jobs, including at the City Council Finance Committee. Her husband John, a high-ranking city employee before his retirement earlier this year, also has pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme. The latest charges were leveled against the elder Laurino's second wife Bonnie and her daughter Christine Boyar — who have pleaded guilty — as prosecutors continue to bring pressure on the former alderman to cooperate in their investigation.

While following up on leads generated by the probe of the alderman, investigators also turned their attention to Rep. Laurino. They have focused on whether he placed his former girlfriend, Linda Holmes, in no-show jobs in his legislative office and with the State's Attorney's Appellate Prosecutor Office.

In a bizarre twist to the case, Holmes died in February when the car she was driving smashed into the office building of a neighborhood newspaper, shortly after news reports that she was under investigation. Police ruled out foul play. Holmes was being pressured to cooperate with the U.S. attorney's office in its pursuit of Laurino, and her death is believed to have hampered the potential case against him. Laurino has been in the legislature since 1971 and will be eligible to retire with full pension benefits when he turns 55 at the end of this term.

Five other Chicago legislators have come under investigation because of their involvement with the Cook County Board of (Tax) Appeals, which federal agents raided on February 11, 1994. The five include:

• Board of Appeals Commissioner Joseph Berrios, who served in the House from 1983 to 1988, when he was elected to the influential tax post.

• Rep. Miguel A. Santiago, whose son was employed by the board at the same time Santiago was carrying his longtime sidekick Berrios on his legislative payroll.

• Rep. Ralph C. Capparelli, employed by the board from 1969 to 1992.

• Rep. Edgar I. Lopez, a board employee from 1985 to 1993.

• Illinois Liquor Commission Associate Director Sam Panayotovich, a former legislator and Berrios business partner employed by the board from 1987 to 1993.

All are Democrats but Panayotovich, whose switch to the Republican Party in 1987 has helped him cash in on numerous no-bid state consulting contracts in partnership with Berrios since leaving office. The Chicago Tribune has reported that federal agents also are looking at whether Panayotovich did any work to justify those contracts, or whether he did anything to earn his salary from another job with the sheriff's office.

Nobody has been indicted yet in connection with the Board of Appeals probe, which also has focused on ghost payroller allegations. The board handles real estate tax assessment complaints, a function that has made it the subject of many past scandals.

'We're talking about taxpayer dollars that are being spent for work that is supposed to be performed'

In an unusual offshoot of the investigation, the grand jury has subpoenaed records of college students who received Illinois General Assembly scholarships from the five legislators. It is believed that prosecutors were trying to determine whether legislators traded some of the tuition waivers for no-show jobs.

One reason that ghost payrolling may have survived in Cook County for so many years is that, until recently, nobody was prosecuted for it. Many law enforcement officials seemed to view it as a petty crime, not to mention a difficult one to prove in court. After all, it requires proving a negative — that someone didn't do something, namely work.

But former Chicago City Clerk Walter Kozubowski, another ex-legislator, was sent to prison after he admitted in 1993 that he doled out at least $476,000 to no-show employees. None of the ghosts were prosecuted.

Allegations of ghost payrolling also are a main component of the federal government's case against former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, another Chicago Democrat who cut his political teeth in the General Assembly. Of course, the Rostenkowski indictment was brought in Washington, D.C., even though all the alleged ghosts had "worked" out of the congressman's Chicago office. The only ghosts who have been prosecuted were charged with lying to the grand jury.

While the ongoing Chicago ghost payrolling investigations have thus far nailed only the ghosts and not their political patrons, U.S. Attorney Jim Burns has made it clear that he is just as interested, if not more so, in prosecuting anyone who knowingly hired or supervised a ghost.

While declining to discuss any of the current investigations, Burns acknowledged that ghost payrolling is "one of our office priorities."

"We're talking about taxpayer dollars that are being spent for work that is supposed to be performed," said Burns, who is believed to aspire to political office himself. "Indirectly, at least, it comes right out of [taxpayers'] pockets." *

Mark Brown is an investigative reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times.