Feds probe alderman's use of campaign funds
20th Ward's Cochran denies any wrongdoing
South Side Ald. Willie Cochran faces a federal criminal investigation into whether he improperly used campaign funds for personal expenses, say sources with knowledge of the probe.
The full scope of what a grand jury is looking into was not immediately known, but state records show the 20th Ward alderman has made dozens of revisions to his campaign reports over the past two years, often to show he had paid himself with campaign funds months earlier.
While the sources said the probe focuses on Cochran's alleged misuse of campaign contributions, a real estate developer told the Tribune on Tuesday that the FBI had questioned him about a donation to Cochran for a scholarship fund the alderman supports.
“I'll tell you the same thing I told them,” said the developer, who asked for anonymity. “I gave him a check, I think it was for a couple hundred dollars. … What he did with it, I have no clue.”
Asked about the investigation by the Tribune, Cochran, 64, denied any wrongdoing or that he had been approached by investigators. His tax and campaign records are in order, he said.
The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the existence of an investigation. Such grand jury probes are kept secret by law.
Court records hint at recent financial troubles for Cochran — he has been the target of three foreclosure lawsuits over his personal home and laundry businesses he held a financial stake in.
Cochran has paid himself more than $131,000 out of his campaign fund, nearly all of it since he won a second term in 2011, according to state campaign records.
Those records show Cochran has filed an unusually large number of revisions — 70 — to his campaign finance paperwork from January 2015 through July 2016. Over the previous eight years, Cochran had filed only six amendments to his campaign records.
In some of the amended campaign finance reports, Cochran revealed he had paid himself out of his campaign fund. In several instances, Cochran did not report those payments until well after he filed his campaign reports with state elections officials — in some cases more than a year or two later.
From 2012 through 2016, Cochran spent $397,574 in campaign funds. About one-third of that — $128,297 to be specific — went to himself, the records show.
It is not against state law for candidates to pay themselves from their campaign fund for working on their own election bid, but it is relatively rare. It's also unusual for candidates to pay themselves such a high percentage of the contributions.
The developer who says he was questioned by the FBI has not made any personal political contributions to Cochran's campaign, state election records show. However, three companies associated with the developer have made contributions to the aldermen's campaign fund totaling $3,500, records show.
Cochran, a former police officer, was elected in 2007 after his predecessor, Ald. Arenda Troutman, was arrested by the FBI on bribery charges alleging she solicited donations from developers seeking to do business in the ward.
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