Bloomingdale man convicted of million-dollar bank bribes

A suburban immigrant who built his business into a multimillion-dollar success has been convicted of bribing a bank official to help him make most of his money.

Armando Navarrete, 46, of Bloomingdale, was convicted of bank fraud, bribery and illegally hiding bank transactions.

A federal jury deliberated less than an hour Tuesday evening before returning the verdict.

Navarrete admitted paying $1.3 million to George Konjuch, vice president of physical security at LaSalle Bank in Chicago.

The cash payments in envelopes came from multiple withdrawals to avoid required disclosure of transactions over $10,000. In addition, prosecutors said, Navarrete gave Konjuch $20,000 in free security equipment at his home, $15,000 in free landscaping and snow removal, a $10,000 cashier's check for his daughter's wedding, and paid his way to Las Vegas for joint gambling junkets.

But Navarrete testified that Konjuch extorted him, demanding the money or threatening to cut off his business.

In return, from 2001 to 2006, Konjuch approved $45 million in bills from Navarrete's company, Navarrete Industries Inc., in Wood Dale, doing business as Integrated Security Solutions or INS. The company installs security cameras, video monitors, fire and burglar alarms, drive-up windows and vaults.

A witness for the prosecution compared the invoices to those of other companies and INS bills to other banks, and testified that $30 million of the payments were unjustified.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Brandon Fox and Lisa Noller said Navarrete lived a lavish lifestyle, drove four different luxury cars, and bought his home for $870,000 and new headquarters to move his company from Stone Park for $1.7 million without a mortgage.

Defense attorney Ron Clark said Navarrete is a good man who made wrong choices.

"He felt he had no choice," Clark said, "no options."

His client is a Cuban immigrant who served five years in the U.S. Air Force, then worked on jet fighters for Lockheed, before getting a job as a cash machine technician with INS, then becoming operations manager and buying the company in 1997.

Clark said the bills were justified because INS provided specialized security services at 150-plus branches, such as installing bank vaults, that competitors did not.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly ordered Navarrete held in custody while he awaits sentencing. The government has seized his home and business, and under federal guidelines, he could face 12 to 14 years in prison.

Konjuch, 56, of Des Plaines, awaits trial on charges of bank fraud, bribery and tax evasion for allegedly not reporting Navarrete's payments.