From the State Journal Register

State worker charged with fraud conspiracy

By MAURA KELLY LANNAN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
3/30/05
CHICAGO - A secretary of state employee accepted bribes to process paperwork so that at least two car dealers accused last week of laundering millions of dollars of drug proceeds could avoid paying taxes on cars they sold, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Brenda Strong, 35, of Chicago was arrested in a federal complaint charging her with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Prosecutors accuse her of using an audit stamp from her job to alter paperwork at least twice a month since 2001 at a dealership owned by Hossein Obaei, who allegedly paid her to do it.
The audit stamp would show that vehicle title applications had been audited to ensure proper payment of state vehicle transfer taxes, but the taxes were either not paid or paid below the amount actually due, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Strong used the stamp on vehicle title applications so that Obaei and Amir Hosseini, who was partial owner of a car dealership with Obaei, could avoid paying taxes on the vehicles. Obaei and others would then take the documents to the secretary of state facility on the city's South Side where Strong worked, prosecutors said.
Obaei, Hosseini and two other auto dealers were arrested last week in a separate complaint on federal racketeering conspiracy charges. Prosecutors accused them of selling luxury cars to gang members and drug dealers and laundering millions of dollars of drug proceeds in phony sales and bank transactions since 2001. They remained in federal custody Tuesday, prosecutors said, and were not charged in the complaint against Strong.
Strong, who was hired by the secretary of state's office in January 1997, was a public service clerk before being promoted to a supervisory
position in December, said Dave Druker, spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White. Strong, who earns $32,280 annually, has been placed on an unpaid leave of absence, Druker said.
Strong was released on a $15,000 signature bond after appearing in court Tuesday, said Kimberly Nerheim, a U.S. attorney spokeswoman. Strong's next court date is April 14.
Her attorney, Kent Carlson, did not return a call for comment Tuesday, and a telephone number for Strong is not listed in Chicago.
If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to an affidavit by an FBI special agent who investigated the case, Strong told investigators during a March 22 interview that she received $1,500 to $2,000 from Obaei in the past two or three years. She said Obaei never paid her at secretary of state offices.
The affidavit said Strong admitted receiving payments from Obaei.
"I was doing it, and I shouldn't have been," the affidavit quoted Strong as saying.
Prosecutors said Obaei, 52, of Northbrook, owned and operated American Car Exchange and was a partial owner in SHO Auto Credit. Obaei also has been charged with aiding and abetting a cocaine- and heroin-trafficking ring allegedly operated by some of his customers.
Prosecutors said Hosseini, 48, of Winnetka, was the owner and operator of Standard Leasing Sales, currently known as Amer Leasing Sales, and a partial owner in SHO Auto Credit.
Obaei's attorney did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday night.
Amir Hosseini's attorney, Elliot Samuels, has told the Chicago Sun-Times that the allegations against his client are dated and speculative. A message left at Samuels' Chicago office Tuesday by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.
Prosecutors said Strong also accessed the secretary of state's computer database to give Obaei information about the owners of cars based on license plate information he supplied.
They also accused Strong of getting license plates for Obaei even though he did not submit the proper applications.
"By betraying the public trust, corrupt employees make it harder to detect those who endanger the community. Law enforcement will continue to be vigorous in rooting out such enablers," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement.
White said in a statement that the conduct alleged "will not be tolerated by my administration, and we will continue to act aggressively to root out any form of employee misconduct."
Previously, workers in the secretary of state's office have been convicted of accepting bribes paid in return for driver's licenses.
The corruption was so widespread that federal officials opened an investigation, called Operation Safe Road, that later expanded into a six-year examination of political misdeeds while George Ryan was secretary of state and governor.
Dozens of former state employees have been convicted in the investigation that also has led to more than 70 indictments, including of Ryan, who has pleaded innocent.