Chicago's McCormick Place Convention Center has found itself at the center of a fraud scandal. The facility's operations manager, Dominick Gironda, was hit with federal fraud charges for allegedly approving phony invoices for snowplow services, which led to illegal kickbacks, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Gironda and an associate, James Sansone, are accused of orchestrating a scam to profit from inflated claims for work not done and equipment not used.
Representing the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Gironda managed contracts for the convention complex involving multiple buildings and parking spaces. Throughout the purported scheme, running from 2022 until earlier this year, coded language was allegedly used in texts, referring to kickbacks as "bottles of wine," as stated in the indictment.
Federal agents took Gironda, 54, of Bloomingdale, and Sansone, 38, of Batavia, into custody. With an initial court appearance scheduled for the pair today, they face charges of three counts of mail fraud with each count carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual and FBI's Special Agent-in-Charge Douglas S. DePodesta jointly made the announcement of the charges.
