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FORMER
CHICAGO ALD. RICHARD MUNOZ INDICTED ON FRAUD CHARGES
Illinois Policy Institute/
Ann Miller
Former Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz,
appointed by Richard M. Daley, faces federal charges stating he used
campaign funds to pay for personal expenses and committed money
laundering. Over 30 Chicago aldermen have been convicted or charged with
corruption. |
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 Former Chicago Ald. Richard Munoz was charged April 29 with using campaign funds
for personal expenses, lying about the status of campaign coffers, failing to
file campaign fund disclosure forms and money laundering.
A federal grand jury indicted former Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz with fraud for
using campaign funds for personal expenses. Charges state he spent funds on
jewelry, clothing, cell phones, vacations, sports tickets, airline tickets and
on a relative’s college tuition.
The 16-count indictment against the former 22nd Ward alderman stems from a
series of transitions during 2016-2019 between political campaign funds from the
Chicago Progressive Reform Caucus (CPRC) and Citizens for Munoz (CFM) and
Munoz’s personal accounts. Munoz served as chairman and treasurer for CPRC
during his tenure as alderman.fe
The charges state Munoz obtained funds through a series of withdrawals, debit
charges to the CPRC account and transfers of thousands of dollars from CPRC to
his personal account or transferred money from CPRC to Citizens for Munoz fund,
and then to his personal account. These transfers include $16,000 for a
university tuition payment, thousands of dollars for travel, restaurants, hotel
stays, car loan payments and other personal expenses.
Munoz declined to comment when reached by reporters from the Chicago Tribune.
Also on April 29, the grandson of former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and
nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley was charged with lying to federal bank
regulators and filing false tax returns linked to $219,000 he received from a
bank in his family’s neighborhood.
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Chicago Ald. Ed Burke faces a 14-count indictment
for corruption filed April 21, related to steering property tax
appeals clients to his law firm in exchange for his intervention in
city business. Burke is a cigar-chomping alderman with a taste for
pinstripe suits who served over 50 years on the City Council, but
lost his power over city finances after Mayor Lori Lightfoot was
elected.
The Burke investigation revealed Ald. Danny Solis has a deferred
prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney and is cooperating with
federal investigators.
Over 30 Chicago aldermen have been linked to corruption cases since
the 1970s.
Chicago was ranked the nation’s most corrupt city and Illinois is
the second-most corrupt state. Corruption lessens residents’ faith
in government, decreases economic growth, and disincentivizes
investments in the state. In Illinois, corruption costs residents
$550 million a year in lost economic opportunities.
State lawmakers have an opportunity to fight Illinois’ culture of
corruption, in the Statehouse, by adopting a group of ethics
reforms. Those include empowering the watchdog charged with holding
lawmakers accountable for wrongdoing, improving transparency by
improving financial disclosures from lawmakers, prohibiting members
of the General Assembly from working as lobbyists to executive
agencies and local governments, and by requiring a cooling off
period before lawmakers can become lobbyists to the General Assembly
after leaving office.
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