Chicago Sun-Times: Cicero funds sunk into resort: ex-agent

In 1994, former IRS agent Gregory Ross went on a field trip of sorts to the Four Seasons golf resort in Wisconsin.

His companions: the reputed Cicero mob head, Michael Spano Sr., Spano's business partner, John LaGiglio, and Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese.

While the foursome toured the grounds on foot and in golf carts, LaGiglio told Ross of his plans to turn part of the resort into a casino, teeming with slot machines and roulette tables.

The four capped off the trip with a visit to a casino in Michigan and a quick pit stop at Spano's summer home in Winneconne, Wis.

Ross told of the outing on Thursday, his first full day on the stand in the corruption trial of Loren-Maltese, Spano, LaGiglio and five others.

Federal prosecutors say the golf resort and Spano's home were among the booty allegedly acquired by the eight defendants with revenue from a sham insurance firm that bilked the town of Cicero out of $10 million.

The firm, Specialty Risk Consultants, was formed in 1992 by Spano and LaGiglio, who brought Ross on board that year to handle the firm's accounting, Ross testified.

Ross said he told Spano he thought the Four Seasons resort, which was sorely in need of renovations, would be a "poor investment," but Spano assured him there would be enough funds to cover the work.

Those funds were filtered from Specialty Risk Consultants to a related firm, Plaza Partners, which did the actual renovations--and was another way Spano profited from the scheme, Ross testified.

Plaza Partners would submit invoices of work done to Specialty Risk, which would cut checks back to Plaza Partners that were then cashed and paid to Spano, according to Ross. Spano received payouts on a weekly basis, totaling about $7,000 a month, Ross said.

Plaza Partners was run by LaGiglio's wife, Bonnie, who is also on trial, and the wife of another key government witness, Frank Taylor. Ross, who has pleaded guilty in two other cases, is cooperating with the government.