Cicero President Received Campaign Donations from Dummy Corporation

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 15, 2011 4:30PM

The Sun-Times reports in today's paper a New Jersey dummy corporation tied to money laundering and theft wound up being the single largest contributor to Town President Larry Dominick's first campaign for that office. Since we're writing about Cicero, no one should be surprised by the allegations.

Tea-Riffic Beverage, Inc. - doesn't that sound like the name of a dummy company - was alleged to have laundered up to $16 million in money stolen by an aunt and cousin of Cicero Town Attorney Michael Del Galdo. Judy Del Galdo and her son Joseph were charged in June in New York City with stealing from two SoHo textile companies during a seven year period between 2003 and 2010 to pay for their lavish lifestyle. Prosecutors contend Judy Del Galdo, a former accountant for the two textile companies, forged hundreds of checks during that period in the company president's name and that Tea-Riffic was dissolved as a company for years.

Tea-Riffic donated $10,000 to the Dominick campaign less than three weeks before the 2005 election which Dominick narrowly won. Del Galdo was a major player in Dominick's campaign and was later appointed town attorney. Neither have been charged with any wrongdoing and each have said they had no knowledge of wrongdoing by Tea-Riffic.

Del Galdo told the Sun-Times he "reached out to every relative, friend and person on the street" for contributions to Dominick's campaign and believed that his aunt's company was nothing more than a beverage distributor.