CHICAGO, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Federal prosecutors have indicted
Chris Kelly, president and owner of BCI Commercial Roofing, accusing him and
his company of paying at least $450,000 in kickbacks to a consultant. It was
allegedly part of a scheme to fraudulently obtain $8.5 million in inflated
contracts for projects. Last night, prosecutors said the projects dealt with
two major airlines, United and American, at O'Hare International Airport.
Kelly was the chief fundraiser in Rod Blagojevich's two campaigns for governor
and both Kelly and former Governor Blagojevich were strong supporters of the
O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP).
"Sadly this is business as usual with the OMP project; kick backs, corruption
and special favors and money for political cronies," said Bensenville Village
President John Geils. "I'm just one of many who have seen this project for
what it is, a $20 billion boondoggle designed to raise funds and reward
politician's friends with financial gain."
The O'Hare Modernization Project has been criticized for fundamental design
flaws, including planes having an additional 45 minute taxi time due to major
airport choke points, long rides between terminals - often longer than the
scheduled time of a flight - and baggage transfer issues from one terminal to
the next. Air Traffic Control experts have also questioned the overall safety
of the plan.
"I find it ironic that the two major O'Hare airlines who objected to
continuing the OMP plan were also the victims of this kickback scheme," said
Terry Brunner of the Aviation Integrity Project. "O'Hare Airport has been the
source for years of corruption schemes and illegal endeavors and the
modernization program sits squarely in the middle of a lot of that kind of
activity."
Joe Karaganis, a local attorney who battled the City of Chicago against the
O'Hare Management Program, commented, "An impeached governor supported the OMP
project, a jailed former governor supported the OMP project and who knows how
many other objects of federal investigation were part of the corruption that
takes place surrounding the airport and OMP. I know this it certainly another
reason to reconsider what is easily the most absurd, expensive and useless
waste of $20 billion in taxpayer funds anyone has ever seen."
www.stop-omp.org is dedicated to stopping the senseless, ill-advised and
flawed O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP) and preventing further unnecessary
displacement of families and waste of taxpayer dollars. Community leaders,
concerned citizens, aviation industry leaders and economic experts continue to
urge the FAA to adopt viable alternatives. These include runway configurations
proposed by the Chicago air traffic controllers, use of congestion management
techniques, reliance on other nearby airports, and construction of a third
airport.
SOURCE www.stop-omp.org
Jerry Mullins, +1-312-523-3784, for www.stop-omp.org
