16 INDIVIDUALS CHARGED IN ONGOING CHICAGO GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION CORRUPTION PROBE

CHICAGO, IL - Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray of the Criminal Division, Thomas Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI, and Harvey G. Florian, General Services Administration Regional Inspector General, announced today that five former officials with the General Services Administration and nine GSA contractors were charged today with bribery and false claims in connection with GSA contracts at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois.

The charges result from a five-year undercover investigation in which numerous consensual recordings were made of GSA officials and contractors by cooperating GSA employees. The investigation is continuing.

In a criminal complaint unsealed today, Glenn Hardy, 51, of Chicago, a former GSA mechanical supervisor who had responsibility in the selection of contractors for the award of GSA supplies and services contracts in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse at 219 S. Dearborn, was charged with personally receiving more than $10,000 in cash from GSA contractors, in addition to plumbing supplies and other equipment, which were falsely billed to GSA, in return for favorable treatment in the award of GSA contracts between 1997 and 2001.

Raletta Ingram, 55, of Hazel Crest, a building manager, was also charged with receiving new windows and siding on her private residence, worth approximately $18,000, in exchange for providing favorable treatment to a GSA contractor. Arthur Orr, 62, of Chicago, a former GSA pipefitter, was charged with personally receiving plumbing supplies and other equipment from GSA contractors who billed the cost to GSA.

The nine GSA contractors - Carolyn Pease, 38, of Addison; James Barratt, 46, of Elmhurst; Scott Arias, 39, of Orland Park; Gerasimos Valsamis, 46, of Northbrook; John Gibson, 66, of Waukegan; Scott Bravos, 52, of Park Ridge; Barry Lewison, 56, of Skokie; Terrence Kulick, 41, of Bolingbrook; and Charles Funke, 53, of Homewood - were charged with paying thousands of dollars in cash and other things of value in exchange for GSA contracts between 1995 and 2002.

Jerry Taylor, 59, of Chicago, and James Kramer, 49, of Chicago, both former GSA supervisors who cooperated with the investigation, were charged with one count of mail fraud and bribery, respectively. In addition, charges were also filed against Theresa Pitt, 49, of Tinley Park, a former FBI typist, and Merritt Pulkrabek, 62, of Scotland, S.D., a former court security officer, both of whom worked at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. They are alleged to have leaked information about the investigation to some of its targets, and they were each charged with one count of disclosure of wire and oral communications.

“These charges allege a serious breach of the public trust by former GSA employees and the contractors with whom they worked,” said Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray. “I commend the Public Integrity Section, the FBI and the GSA for their outstanding work on this investigation. This case demonstrates the Department’s commitment to rooting out public corruption and prosecuting those who put personal greed ahead of public service.”

Thomas Kneir, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI, stated, “For years, the FBI in Chicago has vigorously investigated allegations of corruption involving state and local government officials. The charges announced today are particularly disturbing as they involve officials of federal government, including a former employee of the FBI, who are alleged to have committed illegal acts in our own building. This betrayal of the public’s trust will not be tolerated.”

GSA Regional Inspector General for Investigations Harvey G. Florian stated, "This investigation highlights the ongoing commitment of the GSA Office of Inspector General to insure that criminal conduct in federal contracts is detected, aggressively investigated and vigorously prosecuted. Individuals contemplating engaging in criminal conduct affecting the United States General Services Administration should know that every effort will be made to bring them to justice."

This prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorneys Alison Van Horn and Peter Zeidenberg of the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., headed by Noel L. Hillman, Chief, with the assistance of Assistant United States Attorney Dean Polales of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois; the remainder of the United States Attorney’s Office is recused from this investigation. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Chicago Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Chicago Zone Investigations Office of the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General. U.S. Marshal Kim R. Widup and the Marshal’s Service in Chicago also cooperated in the investigation.

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