A former executive involved in the remodeling of a Southwest Side Burger King will testify Wednesday about his dealings with Ald. Edward Burke, who is accused of trying to squeeze the restaurant’s owners into hiring his private law firm for tax work.
Jeff MacDonald, the former regional director of Tri-City Foods, is one of the final prosecution witnesses expected to be called in the Burger King episode, one of four alleged schemes outlined in the racketeering indictment against Burke.
MacDonald, who was in charge in the early stages of the renovation of a Burger King on South Pulaski Road in Burke’s 14th Ward, sent an email to colleagues in 2017 describing Burke as one of the most powerful politicians in the city and warning he was “angry” over complaints about trucks parking overnight and what he perceived was a lack of philanthropy on their part.
“Next to the mayor, Burke is arguably the most powerful politician in Chicago,” MacDonald, wrote. “He has been in office for 48 years … without his signature, we cannot get a permit.”
MacDonald took the witness stand shortly before trial recessed for the day Tuesday. Prosecutors have several more days of testimony to go before resting their case, but the bulk of it deals with separate allegations in the indictment.
[ Ex-Ald. Ed Burke corruption trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
The highlight of Tuesday’s testimony came from Zohaib Dhanani, a vice president for the company founded by his father, Dhanani Group, which owned about 160 Burger Kings in the Chicago area, including the one being renovated in Burke’s ward.
Dhanani was among a series of witnesses to paint Burke as wearing two hats, both as the City Council’s most powerful and longest-serving alderman and as a private lawyer prowling for business for his firm, Klafter & Burke.
Dhanani was asked Tuesday about a phone call he had with Burke on June 27, 2017, two weeks after he and his father met with Burke at the Burger King site on South Pulaski Road, where they talked about a driveway permit as well as complaints about trucks parking overnight in the lot.
It was after that meeting that Burke took the Dhananis to lunch at the Beverly Country Club and first pitched his law firm to them, according to testimony.
In the call, Burke got down to brass tacks, saying, “We were going to talk about the real estate tax representation and you were going to have somebody get in touch with me so we can expedite your permits,” Burke said.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Burke, what was that last part?” Dhanani responded.
Afternoon Briefing
Weekdays
Chicago Tribune editors’ top story picks, delivered to your inbox each afternoon.
Dhanani told Burke he would follow up with the architect about the necessary driveway permit and “have somebody from our Houston office reach out to you regarding the property taxes” since that wasn’t something he normally handled.
“OK, good,” Burke said. “I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for being responsive.”
According to the charges, when the Dhananis dragged their feet on hiring Burke’s firm to do property tax appeals, Burke allegedly enlisted the help of his longtime ward aide, Peter Andrews Jr., to shut down the Burger King project over drummed-up permit issues, according to the charges.
[ Ed Burke trial: What you need to know ]
Burke, 79, who served 54 years as alderman before leaving the City Council in May, is charged with 14 counts including racketeering, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.
Andrews, 73, is charged with one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
A third defendant, Lake Forest developer Charles Cui, 52, is not charged as part of the Burger King episode.