Posted: 6/13/2008 12:03:44 AM EDT
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FBI Probes Towing Company Bribes to Cops Reporting Pam Zekman CHICAGO (CBS) ― It might be one of the biggest bribery scandals to hit the Chicago Police Department and it all began as a result of reports by the CBS 2 Investigators about illegal tactics by towing companies. CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has an exclusive on the undercover federal probe into how these so-called "accident chasers" have allegedly paid bribes to some Chicago police officers. Officers rule at the chaotic scene of a traffic accident, helping the victims and, apparently, some have been helping themselves to a piece of the action. Disgusted by the corruption, some towing company owners told us and the FBI how it works. One towing company owner who spoke to CBS 2 anonymously first learned about the scheme at a crash site when he asked a police officer about towing a car. "He said, 'What's in it for me? I said 'Well what do you need?' He said, "Well, I get at least a hundred dollars for the tow,'" the towing company owner said. As time went on he learned "it varied; somewhere between $100 and $500, depending on what the job was." He showed off one way "accident chasers" conceal payoffs. They fold up a $100 bill and slip it between two business cards, then hand it off to the officer in the squad car. He said the corruption costs are buried in the inflated and sometimes fraudulent towing and storage bills CBS 2 has been reporting on since 2006. He and others also say some towing companies are closely tied to repair shops that also make payoffs. "It's about 15 percent of the repair bill … if the officer is somehow involved in steering that car to their repair shop," he said. In exchange for the payoffs, police officers reportedly tip off the towing companies about accidents, chase their competitors away, and recommend that accident victims hire them. As Zekman reported last year, officers from the 25th District on the Northwest Side told Luis Diaz that he should sign up with Collision Towing after a traffic accident. "There was a tow truck already out there and they were instructing me to let the tow truck take the car to the body shop," Diaz said. Instead, his car was taken to Collision Towing's storage lot, where fees piled up to $1,800 while he tried negotiate with company owner James Athans. Some of his conversations with Athans were reportedly recorded by the FBI. "He said that he was a police officer and if I did not pay the money to get the car that he was going to have my license suspended," Diaz said. The first glimpse of the federal probe came last week when Athans was charged with conspiring with 25th District Patrol Officer Joseph Grillo to commit insurance fraud by falsely claiming another officer's private vehicle and Athans' tow truck were stolen. As he left court athans had no response to those charges or my other questions. Officer Grillo has been stripped of his police powers pending the outcome of the case. His attorney said he's had an unblemished career with the department. Other cops and towing companies around the city are also targets in the FBI probe, which was conducted with the IRS and Chicago Police Internal Affairs. None of those agencies would comment for this report. |
Whoever gives the bigger kickbacks! It's an easy decision really! 
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| Unless it directly implicates mayer Daily or Obama, who the fuck cares. Its chicago, that rat infested Vampire desciple controlled dantes pit in middle america, worthy to be remembered only as a political cesspool and the representative mangina that led to the downfall of this once great nation. |
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When they ask ya where you from... "Gangster City"!!!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfFq-WBJoXI&feature=related |
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