A suburban Chicago college has halted plans to seal coat its parking lots because the contractor selected for the project is under indictment. College officials initially decided to accept the company’s low bid, despite pending criminal charges, after an attorney advised them to require a performance bond and monitor the project closely, according to the college’s executive director of public relations and marketing. They put the project on hold after a local newspaper learned the contractor has been charged with defrauding several municipalities of more than $400,000.

“The College of Lake County has put a hold on a paving contract after the Lake County News-Sun learned that the top bidder for the project is under indictment in Cook County. Alann Harris, president of Park Ridge-based North Suburban Asphalt Maintenance, which on April 29 was awarded a contract to sealcoat parking lots at the college’s Southlake Campus in Vernon Hills, was indicted in September on charges brought by Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

Madigan claims that Harris, 47, of Niles, ran a kickback scheme in 2010 and 2011 that defrauded several north suburban municipalities of more than $400,000 for public works projects. The indictment also alleges that Harris forced his employees to money from their paychecks each month, a violation of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act.”

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