CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, CITY HALL WATCHERS ARE turning their attention to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications after the news broke today that the city’s inspector general has recommended that the OEMC’s #2 man be fired because of financial irregularities. They were wrapped up in a Motorola contract that the OEMC First Deputy jiggered to direct $2.25 million into a worthless console system.
The Chicago Sun-Times is running this exclusive story today:
Jim Argiropoulos, the $149,832-a-year first deputy who once served as OEMC’s acting director, is accused of engineering a scheme that culminated in the falsification of documents to expedite the purchase of a new 911 dispatch console system from Schaumburg-based Motorola.
Without a contract to justify the console purchase — and apparently unwilling to wade through the normal bidding process — Argiropoulos allegedly ordered underlings to find a way to get it done. As a result, a phony voucher was issued for 18,000 handheld radios under an existing Motorola contract.
No sooner had the company started ordering software than Argiropoulos allegedly demanded an upgrade, with the $2.25 million payment applied to the new system.
When Motorola balked at the demand, Argiropoulos allegedly played hardball: If Motorola didn’t give him what he wanted, its future city contracts would be in jeopardy, according to sources familiar with the inspector general’s report.
Motorola is not being blamed for doing anything wrong in this scheme. Nor is there any disclosure from the IG about Argiropoulos’ motive in this affair. On the surface it appears that there could be a criminal complaint to follow, at least for the misappropriation of the taxpayers’ money.
Read the entire article in the Chicago Sun-Times HERE. We expect more information to start spilling out over the next few days.
