Election Fund Fraud Charges Probed in ’88 Cudahy Race

The state Fair Political Practices Commission is investigating allegations by a city councilman that his campaign manager falsified financial reports, apparently to cover up contributions from a questionable source.

Bill Colon, also a Cudahy city councilman, is under investigation for falsifying contributions to Councilman John Robertson’s campaign two years ago, according to Sandra Michioku, commission spokeswoman.

Robertson said that Colon, acting as campaign treasurer, may have padded financial reports to mask contributions from another source. Robertson would not identify the campaign contributor. Robertson refused to sign the financial report and instead, submitted one of his own to the commission in July, 1988.

“There were numbers on the (campaign disclosure) statements I could in no way verify,” Robertson said in an interview this week. “There are some suspicions that people gave money to the campaign that were not listed. The question is who really gave the money?”

In an interview this week, Colon said his statements are accurate, and described the investigation as an attempt by his political opponents to “muddy the waters” before he seeks reelection this April. He said he expects that the FPPC investigation will prove he did not lie in the campaign report.

“They (FPPC) are not going to find anything,” Colon said. “That campaign statement was filed in 1988. If this was true why didn’t they (political opponents) bring it out then? Why now? If they are trying to make me look bad, then they are wasting their time because I don’t care. I know they want me out.”

Robertson is not the only city official to complain to the commission. Councilman Joseph Fregeau said last year he wrote the FPPC to complain about discrepancies in the same report and the possibility that an unknown person secretly funded the campaign. He said he received a letter from the commission late last summer informing him that they had received the complaint, but could not begin an investigation because of a backlog of cases.

Both Fregeau and Robertson received money from Citizens for Progress of the City of Cudahy, the committee that listed Colon as treasurer.

According to the campaign disclosure statement filed in October, 1988, by Colon, Mayor Joseph Graffio and Councilman Tom Thurman each contributed $1,014. Both have denied contributing that amount.

“There is no way I gave a thousand dollars,” Graffio said. “I gave Colon $309. I don’t know what he is doing, but I know what I gave him.”

Thurman said he believed he contributed about $300 to the reelection campaign, but said he did not recall donating an additional $714.

According to the first campaign report filed by Colon and signed by Robertson, Robertson contributed $1,500 to his own campaign. In the final campaign statement that Robertson refused to sign, Robertson is reported to have contributed $2,214. Robertson said he cannot recall how much he contributed to Citizens for Progress, but said in all he spent about $4,500 toward his own reelection.

Fregeau reportedly donated $765, according to the Colon statement. In Robertson’s campaign statement Fregeau is reported to have donated $215. Approximately $2,483, according to Colon’s report, was contributed by Colon and three of his children. Robertson said it is hard for him to believe that Colon’s three children, two of whom were working at temporary jobs at the time, could afford to give the approximately $400 they each reportedly contributed.

But Colon said his children often contribute to political campaigns. His daughter Karin Kellough said she believed her ex-husband had contributed to Robertson’s reelection campaign, but said she was not sure because they had contributed to many campaigns. Colon’s son Gary and his daughter Carol Duvall, both of whom are also listed as contributors, could not be reached for comment.

The only contributor whose donation Robertson does not challenge is the $100 contribution of Georgia Scrivner, who has since launched a recall campaign against him.

Robertson said that although Colon was working for him, he is not responsible for how Colon ran the financial side of the campaign.

“Why should I be?” Robertson asked. “I didn’t know what was going on in that regard. He was the man gathering the checks. The money didn’t come to me it went to Bill (Colon). Unfortunately, I got wrapped up in something I didn’t enjoy. It was an error in judgment.”

The FPPC’s Michioku said individuals found in violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 can be fined up to $2,000 per violation. The investigation, she said, should be completed in about a month.

BACKGROUND

John Robertson was elected April 1, 1988, to his fourth term on the Cudahy City Council. His campaign was managed by Councilman Bill Colon, an ally who since has split with Robertson on a number of issues being considered by the council. Robertson ran with Joseph Fregeau, who lost to veteran Councilman Gabe Zippi. Fregeau was appointed to the council after Zippi died eight months later.