The leaders of the scandal-tainted red light camera company formerly known as SafeSpeed have filed suit against the company’s co-founder, Omar Maani, asking the court to make him pay for allegedly masterminding the bribery scheme that led to criminal convictions of Illinois politicians and tarred the names of the company and its executives.
Zollar serves as president and CEO of AllTech, which was formerly known as SafeSpeed. Lai serves as the company’s treasurer, vice president and co-CEO, according to the complaint.
Zachary Fardon
| King & Spalding
The complaint centers on the public bribery corruption scandal that engulfed SafeSpeed and a host of prominent Illinois state and local officials in 2019 and 2020.
At that time, federal officials launched investigations of allegations that Maani bribed local government officials in the western suburbs of Cook County to install SafeSpeed red light camera systems, and then also bribed prominent Democratic state legislators, including former state Senator Martin Sandoval, to secure protection of SafeSpeed’s interests in Springfield.
The complaint notes that Maani also paid $5,000 to State Sen. Emil Jones III, allegedly to further SafeSpeed’s interests in the capitol.
According to the complaint, Maani furthered his scheme by allegedly using intermediaries, including Patrick Doherty, chief of staff to former McCook village president Jeff Tobolski, and former Worth Township Supervisor John O’Sullivan, to bribe other public officials, including village trustees in Oak Lawn, to secure business for SafeSpeed.
Other public officials ensnared in the bribery scheme included Tobolski; former Oak Brook Terrace Mayor Tony Ragucci; and former Crestwood Mayor Louis Presta.
As federal prosecutors closed in on the public officials targeted in the investigation, Maani cut a deal, agreeing to flip on his alleged co-conspirators, in exchange for leniency.
This spring, federal prosecutors followed through on that deal, dropping the lone charge of conspiracy to bribe a public official against Maani.
Three months later, Zollar and Lai, with their newly rebranded company, filed suit against Maani, demanding he pay the company at least $25 million for business lost amid the bribery scandal.
At the time news of the scandal broke, Zollar and Lai assert SafeSpeed was nearing red light camera contracts with several suburban villages and cities, including Alsip, Broadview, Cicero, Lincolnwood, Norridge, Olympia Fields, Stickney and Riverside.
But all of those communities ended talks with SafeSpeed once news reports surfaced concerning the federal investigation and likely indictments, allegedly destroying SafeSpeed’s reputation.
Further, the complaint notes that the Illinois Department of Transportation approved just two of 48 red light camera requests in communities already serviced by SafeSpeed, after the federal investigation was revealed.
According to the complaint, Zollar and Lai claim they and SafeSpeed itself played no role in the bribery scandal and had no knowledge of Maani’s actions.
According to the complaint, SafeSpeed and its other executives became aware of Maani’s alleged misconduct after federal investigators executed a search warrant at Sandoval’s office in October 2019. Zollar and Lai assert Maani then allegedly refused to cooperate with the company’s internal investigation.
Zollar and Lai assert the blame for the bribery scheme should be borne solely by Maani.
“Although Omar Maani’s bribery was his alone and undertaken without the knowledge or authorization (of SafeSpeed, Zollar and Lai), virtually all of the widespread publicity has suggested or inferred otherwise,” they wrote in their complaint. “As a result of Omar Maani’s illegal conduct and the adverse publicity that followed, SafeSpeed has lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and millions more in anticipated revenue it reasonably expected to obtain from new and existing clients before Omar Maani’s actions became publicly known.
“Beyond that, the impeccable reputations Plaintiffs once enjoyed largely have been ruined.”
The lawsuit accuses Maani of violating his fiduciary duty to the company, of interfering with the company’s business and its relationships, and then allegedly attempting to conceal his alleged scheme through fraud.
The lawsuit asks the court to order Maani to pay enough money to “compensate … for the economic and non-economic damages sustained as a result of Maani’s (alleged) actions,” plus unspecified punitive damages.
Zollar, Lai and AllTech are represented by attorneys Zachary Fardon, Patrick Otlewski and Abigail Hoverman Terry, of the firm of King & Spalding, of Chicago.
Fardon formerly served as U.S. Attorney in Chicago under former President Barack Obama, from 2013-2017. Former President Donald Trump replaced Fardon in 2017 with John R. Lausch Jr.
Lausch, who stepped down from the post earlier this year, also went on to head the investigation into the red light camera bribery scandal, as well as leading other prominent public corruption investigations, including the operation that led to the ouster and indictment of former Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party Chairman Michael J. Madigan.