Illinois’ powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan and a number of his associates have been targeted by a new $450 million class action lawsuit, accusing Madigan and his associates of racketeering in a conspiracy to enact laws allowing ComEd to raise its rates in exchange for bribes in the form of jobs and favors for members of Madigan’s political and business circle, leaving Illinois taxpayers and ComEd customers holding the bill.
On Aug. 10, a group of ComEd electricity customers filed the class action in federal court in Chicago.
In addition to Madigan, defendants in the action included ComEd; former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore; and Madigan associates Michael McClain, John Hooker, Michael Zalewski, Fidel Marquez and Jay Doherty.
The complaint also targets a number of as-yet unidentified Madigan associates, including a law firm favored by Madigan for which Madigan allegedly arranged a special contract with ComEd. The complaint asserts the plaintiffs anticipate they will uncover the identity of that law firm and the identities of dozens of other Madigan associates and “pass-thru companies” Madigan and his alleged co-conspirators used to attempt to hide the alleged bribery scheme.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Paul Neilan, of Highland Park; Patrick Giordano, of Evanston; and Stuart Chanen and Ariel Olstein, of Lincolnwood.
The complaint is one of several such class actions launched against ComEd over the alleged scheme to bribe Madigan in exchange for the passage of legislation worth potentially billions of dollars to ComEd. One of those other challenges also publicly targets Madigan.
The lawsuits follow the action by federal prosecutors earlier this summer to hit ComEd with charges of bribery. Under a so-called deferred prosecution deal, ComEd agreed to pay a fine of $200 million.
However, the deal also included a requirement that ComEd and its officials continue to cooperate with federal investigators for at least three more years as they continue to investigate “individuals or other entities” identified or implicated in the ComEd bribery case.
According to federal court filings, ComEd specifically sought to use bribes to enlist the aid of the Illinois House Speaker, identified as “Public Official A” in the federal prosecutor’s filings. Public Official A was identified as the Speaker of the House, a role Madigan has held for nearly all of the past four decades.
Madigan also serves as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party.
Because of both roles, and the power that accompanies them, Madigan’s allies and associates are found throughout all levels of state and local governments and agencies in Illinois.
According to the federal prosecutors, ComEd and Madigan were allegedly involved in a scheme dating back to at least 2011, resulting in the passage of at least two key pieces of legislation that resulted in higher electricity rates charged to Illinois customers.
While other class actions have targeted ComEd, the most recent class action is the first to directly target Madigan and his associates as defendants.
The complaint rehashed many of the details already spelled out by federal prosecutors, including the roles of Hooker, Doherty, McClain and Doherty in the alleged racketeering conspiracy. The complaint asserts those men worked to secure patronage-style ComEd jobs, contracts and positions for Madigan associates and affiliated companies. This included the contract for the unidentified law firm and a position on the ComEd board for Madigan associate Juan Ochoa, allegedly at Madigan’s personal request.
In exchange, ComEd would receive Madigan’s crucial support for the legislation ComEd desired, allowing it to make electricity more expensive in Illinois and remove certain state oversight from its rate increase requests. The complaint notes those particular pieces of legislation were also opposed by Madigan’s daughter, Lisa Madigan, when she served as Illinois Attorney General, and by Democratic former Gov. Pat Quinn, yet still managed to secure approval, thanks to Speaker Madigan’s support.
The complaint seeks damages of at least $450 million. That sum begins with the $150 million ComEd claims it gained directly from the passage of the legislation it received allegedly in exchange for the bribes.
However, the plaintiffs are also seeking an additional $300 million on behalf of all Illinois ComEd customers.
The complaint also seeks court orders forbidding Madigan from serving as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, or from taking action on ComEd-related legislation in the future.