A top Chicago Department of Aviation official was federally indicted this week in an alleged sham contracting scheme for snow removal at O’Hare International Airport.
Eric Sanders, 54, was charged with four counts of fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and tax evasion, according to a copy of the complaint filed Monday in the U.S. Northern District of Illinois. He is accused of pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a snow removal company from 2016 to 2023, with the help of his father, his girlfriend and her son.
An Aviation Department official declined to comment Wednesday.
As of this week, Sanders remained employed as the department’s general manager of airport operations, according to a city employee dashboard, which says he’s worked for the city for 21 years and lists his annual salary as $136,700.
The federal indictment does not name the company that Sanders tapped for snow removal services at O’Hare, but the business allegedly subcontracted with two companies, one owned by Sanders’ father and another by his girlfriend’s son, who was a student at the time. In total, Sanders allegedly pocketed $33,932 from his dad’s business and $232,768 from his girlfriend’s son’s company.
The dad and the girlfriend’s son are not identified in the document, which says that Sanders was in charge of both of the nominee companies, not them. The subcontractors were purportedly brought in to lease equipment with the main contractor so that Sanders could conceal how he received payments from the latter as well as avoid paying taxes, according to the indictment.
His arraignment was not yet scheduled.
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