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 Stephen Roeschley, 65, the former president of the Morton-based
Core Construction Services of Illinois, pled guilty to wire fraud
before Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Peter Cavanagh. Roeschley
admitted to using a minority-owned business, BJB Enterprises in
Peoria, as a front to obtain a contract for the phase two
restoration of the Capitol building.
The felony conviction is the result of an investigation by the
Attorney General’s Public Integrity Bureau, which Madigan created to
uncover fraud, abuse and waste of government resources.
Madigan said Roeschley represented to the Illinois Capital
Development Board that it would employ BJB Enterprises on the
project to meet the state’s legal requirement that a portion of the
work be completed by a minority- or woman-owned business. However,
Madigan’s investigation revealed BJB Enterprises did not do any work
associated with the contract or provide any materials for the
project.
“Our investigation revealed that the company used a minority-owned
business as a front to obtain a state construction contract,”
Madigan said. “The pervasive evasion of the state law requiring
opportunities for minority- or women-owned businesses will not be
tolerated.”
Roeschley, who is no longer president of the construction firm, was
ordered to pay $800,000 in restitution to the state and sentenced to
30 months of probation.
This case was investigated and prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys
General David Navarro and Kathleen Duhig and Associate Director
James S. Dorger of Madigan’s Public Integrity Bureau.
Conviction Part of Madigan’s Work to Restore Public Integrity
Madigan formed the Public Integrity Bureau and tasked it with using
the tools afforded the office within statutory limits to uncover
public corruption and enforce state law. Public Integrity
investigations have led to the convictions of elected officials,
public employees and government vendors – from an elected state
representative and county state’s attorney to local officials,
police officers and rank-and file government workers – who used
their positions for personal or political gain.
This conviction is the latest in a series of cases involving
minority-owned business fraud in public projects. On May 1, Madigan
joined with U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon to announce a $12
million whistleblower settlement with James McHugh Construction
Company over allegations the company used women-owned businesses to
fraudulently secure multimillion dollar public projects funded by
the state and federal governments for work on Chicago area roads,
highways and public transit systems, including Wacker Drive and the
Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Brown lines.
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In March 2013, Madigan secured a guilty plea for fraud and
obtained $1.5 million in restitution from Thomas J. Williams,
the former president of the Peoria Heights-based Williams
Brothers Construction Inc. Williams admitted using a
minority-owned business as a front to obtain two state contracts
in 2010 to restore the historic Lincoln Hall at the University
of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and to construct a new science
complex at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
In March 2011, the Attorney General secured the conviction of
Robert Blum, owner of Markham-based Castle Construction Corp.,
for fraudulently obtaining more than $18 million in construction
contracts with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and the
Public Building Commission, which were awarded in part based on
the requirement that Blum employ minority-owned subcontractors.
The Attorney General’s work to fight corruption has extended
beyond her Public Integrity Bureau. During her tenure, Madigan’s
office has investigated and prosecuted fraud against government
programs, including child care, in-home care, unemployment
insurance and student loan programs, Medicaid and state grant
funding. The Attorney General took legal action to revoke the
Emerald Casino license over deep concerns of corruption, and
acted to deny taxpayer-funded pension benefits to convicted
former Governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich.
Madigan also created the new position of Public Access Counselor
in her office to serve as a watchdog to public bodies that
refuse access to public records. The Public Access Counselor
reviews and resolves thousands of public record disputes each
year, working to reverse Illinois’ long legacy of a lack of
government transparency. Her office has continued this work in
the state legislature by helping to draft the State Employees
and Officials Ethics Act, tightening revolving door prohibitions
on state employees and requiring greater public disclosure of
Inspector General investigative reports.
[Text received; THE OFFICE OF
ATTORNEY GENERAL LISA MADIGAN]
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