SPRINGFIELD — Former state Rep. Ron Sandack — who abruptly resigned last year amid an extortion scam involving “inappropriate online conversations” — is Springfield’s newest lobbyist.
Sandack, who was lured into a scheme that ended in him feeling compelled to send money to a woman he met online, was listed as registering as a lobbyist on Tuesday, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s lobbyist database. He is registered with the firm Gaido & Fintzen, LLC. Sandack intends to lobby the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office, according to records. The firm, where Sandack is a partner, had previously not done lobbying in Springfield.
After going dark on social media for several months, Sandack reappeared in November. Sandack on Wednesday in a Facebook post congratulated the members of the 100th Illinois General Assembly.
“After the celebrating is over, I hope all can finally work together to truly address Illinois’ dire financial challenges; our great State deserves no less. Cheers … now get to work,” Sandack wrote.
Sandack — a former mayor of Downers Grove — was very active on the House floor and was a key ally to Rauner.
Sandack, who as a state lawmaker was very active on social media, abruptly resigned from the Legislature on July 24, saying “cyber security issues” forced him to re-evaluate his “continued public service.”
Downers Grove police on Sept. 16 revealed Sandack was lured into a scam that began with him communicating with a young woman online and wound up with him making payments and seeing a fake Facebook account set up in his name. Sources said a video of that Skype encounter was posted on Facebook with Sandack’s contacts tagged along with it.
Screenshots of some of the Skype messages were included in the police investigation.
Sandack himself issued a statement, admitting he was extorted and lured to “engage in inappropriate online conversations.”
