Rauner's Racing Board Appointment Has Ties to Corrupt Loan Firm

A Lake Forest man recently appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner as chair of the Illinois Racing Board has close ties to a car loan firm that cost investors some $2 billion in the 1990s.

Jeff Brincat was appointed to the racing board post on March 2 for a term that will expire on July 1, 2020 at an annual salary of $12,527.

In the 1990s, Brincat served as a vice president of administration and assistant vice president for Mercury Finance Co., a Lake Forest-based subprime car loan firm in which leaders have admitted to manipulating earnings, failing to charge off unprofitable loans and creating phony financial figures for years, according to a 2007 article in the Chicago Tribune.

Mercury Finance was running strong in the mid 1990s with 290 loan offices across the country.

“But underlying the company’s rosy financial picture was a web of lies aimed at propping up a stock price that peaked at around $16 a share,” according to the Tribune article.

Among the company’s inconsistencies came in 1996, when they reported a profit of $120 million, when in fact it had lost $30 million.

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Jeff’s father, John Brincat Sr., former chairman and chief executive of Mercury, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2007 for what the Tribune described as a “book-cooking scheme.” It was the highest penalty he could receive under a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors the year before. According to a 1996 list of company officers (pictured), Jeff Brincat was listed as the Vice President of Administration that year, with a note stating he had formerly served as Assistant Vice President from 1993-1994.

Now, Jeff Brincat replaces Melody Cooper on the Racing Board, which has the responsibility for the audit of all racing revenues and receipts, for the collection and disbursement of all fees and taxes from racing and to ensure the honesty and integrity of all horse races conducted in Illinois.

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According to a Chicago Magazine article published two years ago on Brincat’s Lake Forest mansion, he was the CEO of Consumer Financial Services Corporation at the time and is still listed as owner of the Waukegan-based company by the BBB.

According to CampaignMoney.com, Brincat also has a recent history of making hefty donations to Republican political candidates both in Illinois and nationally.

A list of campaign contributions in 2012 shows him making contributions in the thousands to the campaigns of Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell and Aaron Schock among others.

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