In 2019, Alsip Mayor John Ryan acknowledged that he’d been approached by federal agents asking about SafeSpeed, the company that village officials had decided to hire for red-light camera services in the south suburb.
“I’m not being investigated, nor is the village,” Ryan said then, calling the agents’ interest “informational.”
Four years later, Alsip’s decision to bring in SafeSpeed — which the village board voted to hire but whose contract was put on hold amid the questions — appears to be a subject of renewed interest by the FBI and the IRS.
According to sources and records:
- Investigators recently approached or interviewed current and former village officials, asking how Alsip chose SafeSpeed as its red-light camera contractor — a decision that came after people affiliated with the company helped Ryan’s and his allies’ election efforts with campaign contributions, consulting and campaigning.
- Some of those interviewed by federal agents say they got subpoenas to testify before a grand jury in early August. One of those officials says he has been told he isn’t a target of the investigation.
Ryan isn’t among those called in by federal authorities, sources say. He didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
One person who was subpoenaed and questioned, speaking on the condition of not being named, says federal agents were interested in Ryan and about how SafeSpeed was chosen.
A second person who was interviewed by agents says that, among other things, “They were asking how votes went, my attitude and behavior toward John.”
Ryan “was involved” in the SafeSpeed solicitation, according to that source. “He had emails going back and forth with SafeSpeed . . . He’s the one who invites the different companies to come and make their presentations to the board, and initially he only brought SafeSpeed, until someone said something . . . and basically reminded him you have to be fair about this.”
The first source says agents also asked about Nikki Zollar, SafeSpeed’s chief executive officer.
Zollar was involved in SafeSpeed’s efforts to get its cameras in Alsip but previously has said she knew nothing about any illegal activity in her company’s dealings, which federal agents first began asking about in 2019.
A spokeswoman for Zollar says, “In 2018, Alsip opened [a bidding process] to select a red-light camera provider. SafeSpeed responded, . . . appeared before Alsip’s board and was preliminarily selected on the merits” of its proposal.
“SafeSpeed neither engaged in nor authorized any illegal activity related to Alsip,” the spokeswoman says.
Her now-former SafeSpeed partner Omar Maani has told federal authorities he and SafeSpeed sales representative Patrick Doherty — who also was a top aide to Jeff Tobolski, a now-former Cook County Board member who has pleaded guilty to taking more than $250,000 in bribes and agreed to cooperate with investigators — conspired to pay a family member of an Oak Lawn village board member in hopes of influencing his vote over hiring SafeSpeed.
Maani owes $3.1 million in federal income taxes, according to liens the Internal Revenue Service filed in January with the Cook County clerk’s office. He owes $2.7 million for income taxes from 2017, 2018 and 2019, the records show, and he and his wife Olivia Pietsch owe $444,916 in income taxes from 2016.
“Mr. Maani is working with the Internal Revenue Service to resolve his tax issues, including proposing an installment agreement, which is presently under IRS review,” according to his attorney Eric L. Green.
Neither Green or Maani would answer any questions about the unpaid taxes, including whether it was related to the federal investigation of SafeSpeed or part of his cooperation agreement with federal investigators.
