FBI investigating tax assessment bribes in Cook County

The FBI has been investigating a Cook County Board of Review employee who is alleged to have used his position to lower property assessments in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash bribes, according to a federal court affidavit obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

That employee also said the money would be split with others in the office, insisting, "I'm just the middle guy" and that certain colleagues had factored the cash into vacation plans as the recent Fourth of July holiday approached, according to the 45-page document.

The federal probe dates to at least January 2019 and involves an unnamed individual who was secretly cooperating with the feds and is separately under criminal investigation, according to the affidavit.

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