A suburban businessman was charged in U.S. District Court on Friday in an alleged scheme to pay at least $15,000 in bribes to then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval to secure the purchase of state-owned property near his company in McCook.

       Vahooman Mirkhaef, who goes by the nickname “Shadow,” was charged in a criminal information with one count of bribery conspiracy. An arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 16, but defendants charged via an information, instead of by grand jury indictment, typically intend to plead guilty.

       Mirkhaef, 60 could not immediately be reached for comment. His attorney, Sergio Acosta, declined to comment.

       The charges marked the latest in a wide-ranging corruption probe that went public when federal agents raided Sandoval’s Springfield offices in September 2019. Sandoval, who pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme involving a clout-heavy red-light camera company executive, died of complications from COVID-19 in December 2020.

       The five-page information filed Friday alleged that Mirkhaef enlisted Sandoval’s help in 2018 to secure property owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation that was adjacent to his trucking logistics company, Cub Terminal, at 5300 Joliet Rd. in McCook.

       At the time, Sandoval was the powerful head of the Senate Transportation Committee and held considerable sway over IDOT.

       In June 2018, Sandoval met with officials at IDOT and “sought to influence and advise them” regarding the sale of McCook property to Mirkhaef, according to the charges. The sale was approved and went through four months later.

       The charges stated Mirkhaef, through an unnamed co-conspirator, agreed on two separate occasions to pay Sandoval $25,000 cash for his efforts. That December, Sandoval went to Mirkhaef’s office to confirm that the money was still coming, the charged alleged.

       Mirkhaef gave Sandoval $15,000 in January 2019, according to the charges. The information does not state whether the rest of the promised money was ever paid.

       State election records show Cub Terminal donated $23,500 directly to Sandoval’s campaign coffers between 2014 and 2019, including a $5,000 contribution just two months before the FBI raid on Sandoval’s office.

       He also donated $4,000 to the failed campaign of Sandoval’s daughter, Angie, for a seat on the Cook County Board in 2017, records show.

       Chicago Tribune’s Ray Long contributed.

       jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

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