Federal investigators issued a subpoena to the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police late last year for an FBI probe into Chicago’s FOP President John Catanzara’s financial dealings, according to a copy of the document reviewed by the Tribune.
The subpoena, dated October 2025 and sent as part of a grand jury investigation, demands that Illinois FOP personnel turn over a slew of financial and governance records dating back to October 2020. Among the records sought were expense vouchers, reimbursement forms and receipts. The subpoena was issued from the Northern District of Illinois, although the Illinois FOP is based in Springfield.
Catanzara — long a lightning rod for controversy who has represented the Chicago Police Department’s rank and file since May 2020 — is the only person named in the document. He took a leave of absence from his role as the first vice president of the state police union in October 2025.
Reached by phone for comment Tuesday afternoon, Catanzara told the Tribune that he had not seen the subpoena issued to the state lodge, and said he had not testified to the grand jury or retained an attorney to represent him in the proceedings. He said the investigation was likely sparked by animus within the union, and added that the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 received a similar subpoena last year as well.
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“Should we ever determine the origins of this investigation that has cost this lodge membership a lot of money over nonsense and pure hatred, personally, of me — it’s based on nothing more than that — those members will be held responsible,” Catanzara said.
Catanzara noted, too, that he only became a board member of the state lodge in 2024 and suggested the probe is more widespread.
“They are looking at the state lodge finances and records of everybody, not just me,” Catanzara said.
A law enforcement source said the investigation is active but that no charges had been filed.
Besides expense records, the subpoena demanded memos, text messages and emails relating to Catanzara, as well as his paystubs and tax records and communications between the lodge and any outside accounting groups.
It also demands records relating to amendments to the lodge bylaws and constitution, as well as notes from board of trustees meetings, audit committee meetings and general meetings.
Representatives from the state union didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did the U.S. attorney’s office.
In 2021, a year after assuming leadership of the FOP, Catanzara resigned from CPD during a Chicago Police Board evidentiary hearing that stemmed from incendiary comments Catanzara made on social media.
Under Catanzara’s leadership, the union secured a new collective bargaining agreement with the city that provided members with a 20% pay raise over four years. That agreement — the subject of an ongoing court challenge — also allowed for officers accused of serious misconduct to have their cases heard and adjudicated by a third party instead of the Chicago Police Board.
baiduhai’s Jason Meisner contributed.
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