Former Ald. Ed Burke and his legal team in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Kendall on Dec. 11, 2023. (WTTW News)

Federal prosecutors finished making their case Monday that former Ald. Ed Burke (14th Ward) pressed city officials to look into why a request for a pole sign on the Far Northwest Side had been denied after the developer hired Burke’s private law firm.

The former alderperson accepted a bribe from businessman Charles Cui, who reached out to Burke when he ran into a brick wall when city officials denied his request for a large pole sign outside 4901 W. Irving Park Road, a former bank building that he redeveloped in Portage Park, prosecutors alleged.

Burke offered to help Cui if he hired Klafter & Burke. Cui did, according to the indictment.

That is the fourth and final scheme Burke is charged with orchestrating. Prosecutors are expected to rest their case-in-chief on Tuesday, setting the stage for disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis (25th Ward) to be called to the stand to testify in the landmark corruption trial of his former friend and colleague.

The $14 million redevelopment of the long-vacant bank building near Six Corners relied on a $2 million subsidy from the area’s Tax Increment Financing District, which had to be approved by the City Council’s Finance Committee, which was then led by Burke.

That subsidy was backed by former 45th Ward Ald. John Arena, who wanted to transform a defunct movie theater in the building and surrounding space into a cultural center. Arena was not called to testify.

Cui leased part of the former bank building to Binny’s Beverage Depot, but that agreement included the use of a large pole sign on Irving Park Road, not far from Six Corners, which funneled thousands of cars and trucks through the Far Northwest Side.

Without that pole sign, Cui told Burke he would experience “extreme financial strain” and would have to give Binny’s a $750,000 break on rent, according to an email shown to the jury.

Jurors heard recordings of Burke discussing Cui’s issue with his assistant — and referring to Cui several times not by name but as “the Chinese guy.”

The jury, which is made up of nine men and three women, has seen evidence that Cui scrambled to get the pole sign approved, even going so far as to Photoshop a picture of the pole sign in an attempt to convince city officials that it had been in use continuously, and therefore was eligible to get a new permit.

However, Matthew Beaudet — who is now the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Buildings — told the jury as soon as he saw that picture, he knew it was fake, since he lives nearby and banked in that building for decades. Beaudet also said Cui pressured him to allow him to occupy the building before all of the permits had been issued.

George Reveliotis, who handled property tax appeals for Charles Cui, is cross-examined by Tinos Diamantatos, the attorney representing Cui on Dec. 11, 2023. (WTTW News)

The jury also heard from attorney George Reveliotis, who had handled the property tax appeals for all of Cui’s properties for years. He testified that he expected to handle the legal work to appeal the property taxes for 4901 W. Irving Park Road, until he got an email from Cui in July 2017.

“Can I have Edward Burke handle 4901 W Irving Park property tax appeal for me, at least for this year?” Cui wrote. “... I need his favor for my TIF money. In addition I need his help for my zoning etc for my project. He is a powerful broker in City Hall, and I need him now. I’ll transfer the case back to you after this year.”

Reveliotis told Cui he understood in an email the jury saw. However, the jury did not see the final sentence in that email, which included a knowing reference to Chicago politics.

Two former city officials — zoning administrator Patricia Scudiero and Building Commissioner Judy Frydland — have testified that Burke called them and asked them to look into the issue preventing the permit for the pole sign from being issued.

Cui is also charged with making false statements to the FBI agents on the morning of Nov. 29, 2018, as other agents raided Burke’s offices and set off a political earthquake.

FBI Special Agent Craig Henderson faced an intense cross examination from Cui’s attorney, Tinos Diamantatos, who suggested several times that agents may have misunderstood Cui, whose first language was Chinese and struggles with English “grammar.”

Cui lied when he told Henderson and another agent that he did not offer business to Burke while trying to get the pole sign approved, but instead hired him as a property tax appeal lawyer “just because he is a good tax appeal lawyer” and did not provide accurate information to the FBI to best of his knowledge.

Henderson was the 33rd witness called by prosecutors in the landmark corruption trial. Facing the jury alongside Burke and Cui is Peter Andrews, a longtime aide to Burke..

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]