Villa Park Politico Secretly Records Official, Prompting Investigation: Village

VILLA PARK, IL – A Villa Park trustee secretly recorded another official last year and created a transcript of the conversation, according to the village.

It's a saga that involved DuPage County prosecutors, the FBI and a divided Village Hall.

At the Aug. 10 Village Board meeting, Village President Kevin Patrick released the transcript to those present.

Patrick said Trustee Khalid Sabri secretly recorded the village's finance director, Suzy Mika, at his local office in December.

"I found a portion of the conversation deeply concerning," Patrick told trustees.

In Illinois, it's against the law to record someone without the person's consent, with some exceptions.

Patrick called for a 15-minute break to give trustees a chance to read the transcript and prosecutors' reports on the matter.

After the meeting resumed, Sabri and Trustee Cari Alfano were gone.

'Difficult' to enforce

Upon questioning from trustees, the village's attorney, Ryan Morton, said the DuPage County state's attorney declined to file charges. Under state law, he noted, someone can record without another's knowledge if they believe criminal wrongdoing exists.

"There is an exchange where Sabri is talking about financial mismanagement and the state's attorney's office said that could be interpreted as him conducting his own investigation," Morton said.

The lawyer continued, "From my conversations with the state's attorney's office, they do not like this law and most state's attorney's offices do not like this law because of how difficult it is to enforce."

In May, Sabri informed the DuPage County state's attorney's office of his concerns in an email. He pointed to cost overruns in a recreation center project and the village losing more than $100,000 in paying for employees' health insurance after they had left the village.

Prosecutors said they had a conflict, so they sent the matter to the FBI. According to the office's report, Sabri never documented his assertions, so the FBI closed the report.

In a separate report, the state's attorney's office said it investigated the secret recording, but took no action. It warned Sabri against recording private conversations.

In response to Patch's public records request, Villa Park provided the transcript and county prosecutors' reports.

On Monday, Patch reported on the contents of the transcript. Among other things, Mika bashed a subordinate, accusing her of being a "gold digger" and having affairs with co-workers.

'Nothing convenient'

Trustee Deepasriya Kumar said Patrick's timing was "very convenient."

Patrick said he wanted to divulge it sooner, saying prosecutors told him to hold off while they investigated.

"There is nothing convenient about secretly recording conversations as a public official and using that to your advantage to get what you want," Patrick said.

Trustee Jack Kozar criticized Sabri's action.

"Is he trying to sabotage Villa Park?" he said. "I'd like to see all the transcripts he's got."

The controversy occurred amid Village Hall tensions. In June, Patrick said, four of the six trustees called an emergency closed meeting to discuss the village manager.

At the time, Patrick said he was gone because his father had died. He said he had tried to get the recording from the village's clerk, Rolf Laukant, but the clerk had not given it. This is despite a Village Board resolution requiring the release, he said.

The clerk did not attend the Aug. 10 meeting.

On Friday, Patrick did not return a message for comment on the status of the recording.

Sabri, Mika and Laukant also did not return messages for comment.

The state's attorney's office declined to comment.