It allegedly involved weekly betting on baseball and football and continued virtually year-round. The pot would continue to build until one of the participants nailed the precise number of baseball runs or football points scored by a designated team.
As many as 20 more O'Hare Airport electricians, including a high-ranking supervisor, are likely to be suspended for participating in a sports betting ring that operated on city time and paid out thousands of dollars in winnings, City Hall sources said Thursday.
The investigation snowballed after the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Inspector General Alexander Vroustouris was recommending firing a $34.65-an-hour foreman of electricians and suspending 10 of his underlings in the alleged betting scandal.
Since then, allegations and evidence about more betting participants have poured into the inspector general's office. Scores of employees have been interviewed.
As many as 20 more suspensions are likely to be recommended, including a high-ranking supervisor with close ties to a perennial O'Hare contractor.
Round Two would bring to 30 the number of O'Hare electricians accused of placing $5-to-$25 weekly bets in a rollover pool that has been going on since 2001, maybe longer.
''We still believe that other O'Hare tradespeople had their own betting pools going. Those investigations are continuing. But, it's clear now that there were more people involved in the electricians' pool,'' said a source familiar with the investigation.
''As a result of the [Sun-Times] story, we've gotten more phone calls from employees out at O'Hare and obtained additional information about additional employees involved.''
Office pools are technically illegal, but not uncommon during the Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournament. But, the O'Hare operation was much more than that, according to participating employees and sources close to the investigation.
It allegedly involved weekly betting on baseball and football and continued virtually year-round. The pot would continue to build until one of the participants nailed the precise number of baseball runs or football points scored by a designated team.
The foreman accused of functioning as a part-time bookie is also one of the ''O'Hare 10,'' a politically connected cadre of supervisors who continue to collect up to $20,000 a year in double-time pay--now $69.30-an-hour--to supervise weekend electrical work. That's even as City Hall has cut off overtime for rank-and-file electricians.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hare01.html
As many as 20 more O'Hare Airport electricians, including a high-ranking supervisor, are likely to be suspended for participating in a sports betting ring that operated on city time and paid out thousands of dollars in winnings, City Hall sources said Thursday.
The investigation snowballed after the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Inspector General Alexander Vroustouris was recommending firing a $34.65-an-hour foreman of electricians and suspending 10 of his underlings in the alleged betting scandal.
Since then, allegations and evidence about more betting participants have poured into the inspector general's office. Scores of employees have been interviewed.
As many as 20 more suspensions are likely to be recommended, including a high-ranking supervisor with close ties to a perennial O'Hare contractor.
Round Two would bring to 30 the number of O'Hare electricians accused of placing $5-to-$25 weekly bets in a rollover pool that has been going on since 2001, maybe longer.
''We still believe that other O'Hare tradespeople had their own betting pools going. Those investigations are continuing. But, it's clear now that there were more people involved in the electricians' pool,'' said a source familiar with the investigation.
''As a result of the [Sun-Times] story, we've gotten more phone calls from employees out at O'Hare and obtained additional information about additional employees involved.''
Office pools are technically illegal, but not uncommon during the Super Bowl and NCAA basketball tournament. But, the O'Hare operation was much more than that, according to participating employees and sources close to the investigation.
It allegedly involved weekly betting on baseball and football and continued virtually year-round. The pot would continue to build until one of the participants nailed the precise number of baseball runs or football points scored by a designated team.
The foreman accused of functioning as a part-time bookie is also one of the ''O'Hare 10,'' a politically connected cadre of supervisors who continue to collect up to $20,000 a year in double-time pay--now $69.30-an-hour--to supervise weekend electrical work. That's even as City Hall has cut off overtime for rank-and-file electricians.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-hare01.html
