By AP/KWMU
Chicago, ILL. – Authorities in Chicago charged two people - including a former member of a state board - with using extortion to get in on millions of dollars in hospital construction contracts.
The two have been ordered held on $5 million bond.
A federal judge also ordered house arrest for Stuart Levine, a former member of the state's Health Facilities Planning Board, and electronic monitoring for investment banker P. Nicholas Hurtgen.
Authorities announced charges Monday against Levine, Hurtgen and construction executive Jacob Kiferbaum, who is cooperating with federal investigators.
The indictment alleges Levine threatened to use his power on the board to force a suburban hospital to steer $113 million in contracts to a friend. It also accuses Kiferbaum of getting contracts and Hurtgen of hoping his company would be able to provide the financing.