February 2, 2005
BY TIM NOVAK AND
STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporters
A hired truck company that allegedly bribed its way into the
program two years ago -- and stayed in even under tougher
standards -- was finally removed from the program Tuesday.
The action by Mayor Daley's scandal-scarred Hired Truck
Program occurred two days after the Sun-Times reported Sarch Hauling Ltd. was
one of several trucking firms that allegedly paid bribes to get into the
program when no new firms were being allowed in.
Sarch also had ties to two reputed mobsters as well as a
Bridgeport native and Daley family ally who was charged in the
scandal with running a hired truck company as a fake women-owned
business.
The latest eruption in the scandal comes as the city
continues to report dramatic decreases in spending on its Hired
Truck Program since the Sun-Times exposed waste and corruption
there 13 months ago.
More efficiency, less work
Since the mayor's reforms went into effect July 1, hired truck
spending has plummeted about 65 percent, city records show. From July to
November in 2004, the city spent $6.7 million. That's compared to $19.2
million for the same time period the year before.
The Sun-Times found in its three-part series that hired trucks were
often paid to do nothing, a point city officials partly conceded at the
time. A separate federal investigation has charged that some trucking
firms were paid and did no city work. While some of the taxpayers' money
went into the trucking firms' pockets, hundreds of thousands of dollars
were funneled back to city officials in bribes or political donations,
federal prosecutors have alleged.
City officials have attributed the sharp decrease in spending to
greater efficiencies and less work in the program.
As for Sarch, it received at least $68,000 since July, according to
the most recently available records.
Sarch was allowed into the revamped city program in July even after
Mayor Daley vowed to weed out corrupt firms.
City officials let Sarch into the program in March 2003 when there
was a freeze on new firms getting hired truck work. A review of court
records and other public documents shows Sarch is one of the companies
that allegedly paid a bribe to get in.
Hired Truck spokeswoman Lisa Schrader said the city was unaware the
trucking firm had allegedly paid a bribe. But Sarch has been put on the
inactive list pending an administrative review. There are 13 other firms
on that list.
Other details
Sarch has been tied to two reputed mobsters, James Inendino and the
late Nick "The Stick" LoCoco. The Sun-Times reported last year, after
Sarch was allowed to stay in the revamped Hired Truck Program, that
Sarch had once rented garage space from Inendino, who also was in the
Hired Truck Program.
LoCoco's son, Anthony, had financial dealings with the owner of Sarch,
Salvador Alvarez, last year when Anthony LoCoco bought his home for
$305,000. Anthony's father, Nick LoCoco, was a mobbed-up bookie charged
separately in the scandal, only to die in December after he was thrown
from a horse.
Sarch has additional ties to John Cannatello, yet another figure
charged in the investigation. The feds accused Cannatello of running the
trucking firm GNA while pretending that his wife and daughter actually
had control. GNA sold a truck to Sarch in 2003. GNA buys its insurance
from the mayor's brother, Cook County Commissioner John Daley.