An alleged scheme to buy then-Ald. Edward Burke’s clout in getting a pole sign permit approved for a Portage Park Binny’s Beverage Depot will be in the spotlight as Burke’s corruption trial enters a fourth week of testimony.
Prosecutors alleged Burke’s co-defendant, real estate developer Charles Cui, stood to lose up to $750,000 in rent from Binny’s if he couldn’t get the pole sign approved for use, so he hired Burke’s law firm to win the powerful alderman’s influence at City Hall. The sign permit was ultimately denied despite Burke’s intervention.
It’s one of four main episodes charged in the indictment and the last to be highlighted by prosecutors, who said they hope to rest their case in chief by Dec. 11. So far, 18 witnesses have testified, and jurors have heard and seen dozens of wiretapped conversations that have offered a behind-the-scenes look at one of the city’s last Democratic machine politicians in action.
[ Ex-Ald. Edward Burke corruption trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall has said she’s trying to keep the high-profile trial on track to finish by the Christmas holiday, despite two COVID-related delays.
Jurors on Friday heard evidence that on Aug. 23, 2017, shortly after the city unexpectedly denied the permit for the Binny’s sign, Cui contacted Burke saying he needed legal help: “It is such a beautiful pole sign, it is becoming a landmark for the community and it costs lots of money to remove it.”
When Burke didn’t get back to him, Cui emailed a friend the next day, “Maybe he thinks there is conflict of interest, because of his position.”
“I’ll ask (Burke) to represent me for property tax appeal, which will be a big bite, comparing with this,” Cui’s email stated. That day, he emailed Burke again, saying he may want to hire Burke’s law firm, Klafter & Burke, for property tax work.
About a week later, an attorney at the firm reached out to Cui to start looking into the buildings’ tax situation. And the same day, Burke told his assistant to reach out to the commissioner of the Department of Buildings, according to evidence presented to the jury.
“Ask her to take a look at that situation where this Chinese guy called about the Binny’s liquor store and the pole, see if she’d review it,” Burke said on the Aug. 30, 2017, wiretapped phone call. “See if there’s any way that they can help him.”
The next day, Burke’s assistant emailed Cui to say he could expect a call from the head of the building department.
On cross-examination, FBI Special Agent Eileen McDermott acknowledged that Cui only stood to lose about $183,000 in his 15-year lease, and only up to $600,000 if the lease was extended to 50 years, according to the terms of his agreement with Binny’s.
Ultimately, the matter was resolved in 2019 for just $60,000.
[ Ed Burke trial: What you need to know ]
Cui attorney Tinos Diamantatos also noted that Cui is a suburban-based immigration attorney and a developer, and the Portage Park project was his first successful foray into Chicago real estate. He never met face-to-face with Burke or even talked to him directly on the phone, Diamantatos noted.
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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.
[ Ed Burke trial: What you need to know ]
Cui, 52, is charged with one count of federal program bribery, three counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.
Burke’s longtime ward aide, Peter Andrews Jr., 73, is charged in a separate scheme of helping Burke pressure the owners of a Burger King in the 14th Ward to hire the alderman’s law firm.