The realm of corruption has ensnared yet another player in the construction industry as Alex Nitchoff, owner of a suburban Chicago construction company, is set to spend five years behind bars. The sentencing, which arrived on a federal judge's decision Wednesday, stems from Nitchoff's involvement in a bribery scheme aimed at a Cook County Assessor’s Office employee, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.
Pleading guilty to his crimes earlier this year, Nitchoff, 57, admitted to conspiring to corruptly offer something of value to influence a public official, and to using interstate facilities to facilitate bribery. During a hearing in federal court in Chicago, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness, handed down the sentence. According to the Department of Justice press release, Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas S. DePodesta, made the announcement of Nitchoff's sentence with a nod to the cooperation of IRS Criminal Investigation and the City of Chicago Inspector General’s Office.
Evident in the plea agreement, from 2016 to 2019, Nitchoff conspired with others to provide Cook County Assessor’s Office employee Lavdim Memisovski – who had a hand in property values and tax appeals for Cook County commercial properties – with home improvement services and materials for free. While entering the plea agreement, it was divulged that this barter included a concrete pad, decking materials, gas lines, sprinkler system heads, tiles, and various other items for Memisovski’s residence. "Nitchoff and others provided free home improvement services and materials at Memisovski’s personal residence," as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois.
Memisovski, in return for the abovementioned favors, reduced the property taxes due for Nitchoff’s properties by at least $550,000. Memisovski, the Burbank, Ill. resident, is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge, last year.
