CHICAGO — The Commissioner of the Bloomingdale Township Road District received kickbacks from the owner of an excavation company in exchange for approving hundreds of thousands of dollars in invoices for purported road work, most of which was never performed, according to an indictment returned in federal court in Chicago.
The indictment accuses Commissioner ROBERT CZERNEK of receiving more than $280,000 in kickbacks from DEBRA FAZIO, the owner of Bloomingdale-based Bulldog Earth Movers Inc. (“BEM”), and MARIO GIANNINI, a BEM employee.
Czernek, a Republican elected to a second term in 2018, was pushed out of any party affiliated positions soon after the charges were made public.
“I would hope that Mr. Czernek would resign his elected public office of Township Highway Commissioner without being forced out by either a conviction or guilty plea, but I do not have the authority to compel that. As the Chairman of the DuPage County Republican Party I do have the authority to revoke Mr. Czernek’s membership and Committeeperson status, and I hereby do so,” said Chairman of the DuPage County Republican Central Committee Jim Zay.
“While Mr. Czernek is welcome to fight every element of the specifically detailed 20 count federal fraud indictment handed down by the grand jury, the specificity of the paper trail evidence detailed in the indictment is pretty damning," Zay said in a press release. "The fact that Mr. Czernek was publicly and privately silent on the matter even though the U.S. Attorney began freezing and seizing his personal assets in January 2020, indicates to me that any fight will be brief and one-sided.
'I would also like to thank DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin and DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan for their assistance in this investigation and the work they did in coordination with the U.S. Attorney. Leaders here in DuPage County have traditionally worked in the best interests of our residents first without regard to their political affiliation.” Zay reiterated his personal and professional belief that all public corruption should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“It is beyond me why public officials engage in unethical and illegal behavior at the expense of their constituents, who are basically their friends and neighbors. It is beyond me why, when they are caught, they don’t immediately resign and apologize," Zay said.
"Currently we have the most powerful Democrat state legislator in the country clinging to power despite a multitude of legal and ethical investigations into his personal conduct and that of his office, his political operation and his lobbying network,” said Zay. “Just like Mr. Czernek, Mike Madigan should resign all elected public and appointed private political offices even though he has not been convicted in a court of law. After 50 years clinging to power that Madigan has only used to bankrupt our state, resignation is the right thing to do.”
In exchange for the secret kickbacks, Czernek used his official position to approve and cause the approval for payment of stone delivery, dump leveling, and storm sewer invoices submitted by BEM to Bloomingdale Township, the indictment states. Czernek approved the invoices knowing that much of the work and services had not actually been performed by BEM, the indictment states. The fraud scheme spanned eight years and resulted in Bloomingdale Township issuing checks totaling more than $700,000 to BEM, the indictment states.
The 20-count indictment was returned last Wednesday. It charges Czernek, 69, Fazio, 63, and Giannini, 58, all of Bloomingdale, with 14 counts of honest services wire fraud. Fazio is also charged with six counts of money laundering. Arraignments in U.S. District Court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher V. Parente.
According to the indictment, Czernek would leave handwritten notes for Giannini hidden in various secluded places on Bloomingdale Township Highway Department property. The notes included a description of work purportedly performed by BEM and the number of hours that BEM purportedly spent on the work, the indictment states. Fazio would later submit invoices to Bloomingdale Township that repeated virtually verbatim the wording used by Czernek in the notes, the indictment states.
The indictment seeks forfeiture from the defendants of several items allegedly criminally derived from the charged offenses, including a 1981 Corvette and 2014 Lexus RX350 held by Czernek, and several pieces of large excavation equipment purchased by BEM during the scheme.
