Yesterday, a federal grand jury indicted Carl Fioravanti, president of the environmental services company, Alliance Environmental Control, Inc. The indictment charges Fioravanti with allegedly obstructing an investigation into the grant funding of a Chicago-area hotel demolition project. This is according to the U.S. Department of Justice. If guilty, Fioravanti could face up to 20 years in federal prison, with the charges pertaining to his response to a subpoena from HUD-OIG regarding potentially altered asbestos waste manifests.
In 2017, the Cook County Land Bank Authority had hired Fioravanti's company to quickly conduct an asbestos survey for the Chicago Park Hotel's demolition. The demolition was planned to be financed through a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Asbestos was found in the hotel, according to the survey Fioravanti submitted in autumn of 2017, as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The investigation, initiated by a team from HUD's Office of Inspector General, the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, and the FBI in September 2018, looked into whether Alliance accurately reported the asbestos quantity on the property. Additionally, also the company along with the Chicago-area demolition company were examined to check if they illegitimately received Community Development Block Grant funds related to the hotel demolition.
According to the indictment, Fioravanti intended to impede the investigation by responding to a HUD-OIG subpoena with altered asbestos waste manifests. The alterations reportedly changed the amount of asbestos said to have been removed from the hotel site, which is evidenced by the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement.
