Builder accused of bribes

[Berwynite]

 


 


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Builder accused of bribes
Oak Brook man added to federal case against former mayoral assistant in Berwyn

By Matt O'Connor and Brett McNeil
Tribune staff reporters
Published July 8, 2005


A well-known builder in Berwyn was arrested Thursday on charges that he paid $10,000 to an alderman to win backing in a bid to buy the city's former Police Department building.

The developer, Clifford Josefik, was also charged with paying an additional $5,000 to Samuel Stillo, then a top mayoral assistant, for Stillo's assistance in another proposed purchase of city-owned property.

The indictment is the latest in a lengthy federal investigation of public corruption in Berwyn, spurred in part by the undercover work of Alex Bojovic, a former alderman who lost his bid to be elected mayor earlier this year.

In a telephone interview after the indictment was unsealed late Thursday afternoon, Bojovic confirmed that he accepted $10,000 in cash from Josefik while secretly working with federal authorities.

"Yes, I did accept the bribe, and yes, I was the swing vote," Bojovic said of the 2002 vote in which the City Council approved the sale of the former Police Department building to Josefik. "I wasn't in favor of [selling to Josefik] in the beginning."

At the time, Bojovic served as the influential chairman of the City Council's Building, Zoning and Planning Committee that controlled city property.

Josefik, 68, of Oak Brook made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday.

He was released from custody to house arrest on $200,000 bail after his former wife, Nancy, agreed to post her house as collateral and act as his custodian. The two live together in Oak Brook, authorities said.

The bond conditions allow Josefik to continue to work and, in an unusual move, he won the government's agreement to let him dine out for breakfast and lunch on work days.

Josefik was added to the pending indictment against Stillo, who was a top assistant to then-Mayor Thomas G. Shaughnessy and is awaiting trial.

Stillo was charged in November 2003 after a video camera hidden by the FBI in a men's restroom in Berwyn City Hall was alleged to have captured him handing $500 cash to Bojovic to buy his vote on a major revitalization project.

Among his duties, Stillo was the city's unofficial tax increment financing czar and in 2003 oversaw $2.6 million in city redevelopment funds despite a 1973 federal conviction for possessing stolen goods.

John Gallo, one of Stillo's lawyers, said he had not read the new indictment and declined to comment. Stillo has previously pleaded not guilty.

Berwyn Mayor Michael O'Connor said Thursday that the former Police Department building, located across the street from Berwyn City Hall, was sold to Josefik for about $108,000 after his was the lower of two bids.

The property is being renovated for a condominium project, O'Connor said. Though he was unsure if Josefik still owned the property, the mayor said he had seen Josefik at the construction site as recently as last week.

"He's a well-known builder here in town for years," O'Connor said.

According to the indictment, Josefik made the $10,000 in payments to Bojovic from early 2002 to March 2003.

Josefik was also charged with trying to prevent an undisclosed individual from giving information to law enforcement about two weeks after Stillo was charged in 2003.

In addition, the indictment charged Josefik with paying $5,000 to Stillo in the summer and fall of 2003 in return for his support on Josefik's bid to buy a long-vacant home at 1642 Scoville Ave. in Berwyn.

At a court hearing in December 2003, Bojovic testified that while posing as a corrupt alderman, he worked with Stillo to fix the bidding on the sale of the Scoville Avenue property to ensure it was bought by Josefik, though he didn't name him at the time. Bojovic said he and Stillo were each offered $5,000.


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But Josefik didn't end up purchasing the property.

At the time of Stillo's arrest in 2003, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald said his office was probing allegations of bid-rigging on contracts in Berwyn and the illegal awarding of no-bid contracts by the City Council.

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mo'connor@tribune.com

bmcneil@tribune.com

[Linda Kacirek]

Kudos to Alex

[ruffian]

Excellent reporting Berwynite.  I appreciate when people can post stuff like this as I can't always sit down and read a newspaper when I want to.  Thanks again, Berwynite.

Linda, I agree, say what you will about Alex but if it wasn't for him we'd still be stuck with a corrupt city government.

[pkd50]

The Sun Times reported that the city owned house is 1642 S Scoville, and another city property at 6647 W 26th.   Does anybody know how the city got these properties, and does the city still own them now?  Do they just sit until the trial is over?

[pkd50]

Of course, the police station.  I didn't recognize the address at first.  The Scoville one is the one I'd like to know about.   If it's residential and just sitting there,  aren't the neighbors concerned?