Cook County prosecutors want e-mail related to fraud case

Cook County prosecutors are demanding any e-mail correspondence between Governor Rod Blagojevich's administration and an auditing firm hired to investigate a contractor accused of bilking the state out of more than $2 million.

Cook County Criminal Court Judge James Obbish yesterday ordered the e-mails be turned over to the court as part of the criminal case against Anita Mahajan.

She is a major donor to Blagojevich's political campaigns and the indicted owner of the now-defunct K.K. Bio-Science. Mahajan's company was suspected of billing the state for drug screenings that were never performed.

Prosecutors for months have been trying to get the audit of K.K. Bio-Science commissioned by the state, which they suspect contains more evidence for their case. A Blagojevich spokeswoman says the audit was recently turned over.