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Chicago

Developer behind takedown of former House speaker Madigan gets prison time

See Y. Wong sentenced to 16 months in separate fraud case

Michael Madigan (Getty; illinoislawmakers, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

A Chicago real estate developer is heading to prison on a discounted term for helping to expose an alleged public corruption scandal reaching the top of Illinois government — a deal he can count on unlike the fake bargains he promised condo buyers.

See Y. Wong, the developer who helped the FBI take down multiple publicly elected Chicago officials, including longtime former speaker of the state House and Democratic Party of Illinois head Michael Madigan, was sentenced to 16 months in prison on separate fraud charges, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Wong reduced his own punishment for running a real estate scheme by cooperating with federal agents to secretly record Madigan — who was the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history until losing the vote for the speakership last year — as well as then-Chicago Alderman Danny Solis.

In addition to prison time, Wong was also sentenced to pay $1.6 million in restitution for wire fraud charges he pleaded guilty to in 2020 after he was accused of offering condo buyers discounts at a Chinatown property called Canal Crossing. He wasn’t allowed to provide the price cuts and lied to a lender by faking documents that made it appear the units sold at full price.

The buyers had to pay the difference or lose their investments altogether once the fraud was revealed.

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Wong became entwined in 2014 with the evidence against Madigan in this year’s indictment of the former speaker on charges of bribery, racketeering and wire fraud that he has so far denied and said he will fight. Federal officials have alleged Madigan abused his power to advance his and his allies’ careers years.

Wong got caught up in the purported scandal when, in 2014, he was representing a businessman who wanted a zoning change for a hotel development. He reached out to Solis, who was the head of the Chicago City Council’s zoning committee, and ended up in a meeting with him and Madigan. Some aspects of the project discussed in the meeting ultimately figured into Madigan’s indictment, as did a promise from Solis that working with Madigan would ensure the hotel project moved forward.

While handing down the sentence, federal Judge Franklin Valderrama said Wong had betrayed the homebuyers, and also considered his previous cooperation with investigators that led to Madigan’s indictment as a mitigating factor.

In turn, Solis’ caught the attention of federal agents and they approached him with evidence of wrongdoing, leading to his cooperation with law enforcement officials that ultimately helped secure indictments of both Madigan and Alderman Ed Burke of the 14th Ward.

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— Victoria Pruitt

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FraudPoliticsReal Estate Lawsuits