(The following story by Mary Wisniewski appeared on the Chicago Sun-Times website on May 12, 2010.)
CHICAGO — Metra board members will hear the results of an investigation into alleged financial improprieties by the agency’s late executive director Phil Pagano at a meeting Friday.
“I anticipate we’re going to present our findings to the board,” said James Sotos, a suburban attorney hired to look into allegations that Pagano had taken unauthorized payments.
The board was supposed to hear an update of the investigation last Friday, but the morning meeting was canceled after news broke that Pagano had killed himself by standing in front of an oncoming Metra train.
Also possibly on Friday’s agenda is the appointment of an inspector general to review Metra business practices.
Visitation for Pagano, 60, was held Tuesday at the Davenport Family Funeral Home in Crystal Lake. A memorial service is set for 10 a.m. today.
Pagano agreed April 27 to be suspended from his post while the board investigated whether he had improperly taken $56,000 in vacation pay in advance, according to board member Jack Schaffer. Sotos has said the probe had also expanded to look at more serious allegations of official misconduct.
Schaffer said the issue of whether Pagano was properly authorized to take the money was all that was discussed at a board meeting April 29.
On May 5, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation to find out whether federal funds were misspent. Durbin would like the investigation to continue, according to Durbin spokeswoman Christine Mulka.
Durbin’s office expects to know more about the inspector general’s investigation by the end of the week.
“The senator has said that with $150 million in taxpayer funds going to Metra, the federal government has a responsibility to see that the funding is spent appropriately and not misused,” Mulka said.