From the U.S. Attorney:
Operations Manager at McCormick Place in Chicago Charged With Pocketing Kickbacks From Snowplow Vendor
CHICAGO — An operations manager at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly pocketing kickbacks from a company contracted to provide snowplow services at the facility.
DOMINICK GIRONDA was employed on behalf of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which operates McCormick Place.
Gironda managed contracts with vendors that provided services at the McCormick Place campus, which consists of multiple buildings, parking lots, and other spaces for conventions and trade shows.
According to an indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Gironda schemed with an associate, JAMES SANSONE, to approve inflated invoices for services that were not actually provided at McCormick Place.
The false invoices included compensation for individuals who had not worked on particular snow removal projects and equipment that had not been utilized, the indictment states.
After Gironda approved full payment of the false invoices, cash was kicked back to Sansone, who then passed on some or all of the money to Gironda, the indictment states.
From 2022 to earlier this year, Gironda and Sansone allegedly received kickbacks totaling approximately $26,700.
The indictment alleges that when Gironda, Sansone, and others texted with each other about the scam, they used coded language that referred to the kickback payments as bottles of wine.
Gironda, 54, of Bloomingdale, Ill., and Sansone, 38, of Batavia, Ill., were arrested this morning.
Gironda is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court today at 2:00 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila M. Finnegan, followed by Sansone at 2:15 p.m. The indictment charges them with three counts of mail fraud, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sushma Raju and Richard Rothblatt.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
