For years, a favorite FBI technique in public corruption investigations has been to let the undercover operative count out loud as he hands over cash bribes to a crooked pol or public official.
That way it’s very clear to a jury what went down when undercover tapes are played at trial.
But investigators appeared to take it another clever step in charges filed last week against an allegedly bribe-taking Chicago city inspector.
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A business owner secretly cooperating with the feds and “wired” with a hidden recorder undercounted the cash payoff moments before he handed over the bribe last month, according to the charges.
“One, two, three, and that’s four hundred,” city inspector Michael Cease allegedly can be heard to say as he counted up the bills himself.
“Four hundred?” the owner responded. “I just counted it. I thought there was five (hundred) here.”
“Did I count that wrong?” Cease answered.
FBI spokesman Frank Bochte confirmed it’s not uncommon for cooperating witnesses to count out cash payments to elicit comments from targets and make it clear what’s happening on a recording.
Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Cramer, now head of the corporate investigations firm Kroll in Chicago, said the undercount was definitely a nice touch if done on purpose.
“When you hear the defendant saying, ‘Hey, you’re supposed to be giving me $500,’ there can be no doubt he knows what’s going on,” Cramer said.
Moments later, the business owner can be heard allegedly giving the full amount to Cease, plus $50 he had promised for delaying the payoff for a few days.
“See, I’m a man of my word,” he said. “You got 550 there.”