Owner of Chicago-area construction company charged with bribing Cook County official

The owner of a local construction company has been charged with bribing an official of the Cook County Assessor's Office.

Alex Nitchoff, 56, is accused of conspiring with others to bribe Lavdim Memisovski, who served as a commercial group leader for the Cook County Assessor’s Office, between 2016 to June 2019.

Memisovski's duties included assessing property values for commercial properties in the county as well as reviewing property tax appeals for commercial properties.

Prosecutors said Nitchoff and others provided Memisovski with "home improvement materials, home improvement services, contracts for electrical work, jewelry, meals, sporting events tickets, and other items of value" in order to influence his work.

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In return for their bribes, Memisovski made sure property assessments for Nitchoff and his partners were routed through him so he could extend deadlines and reduce assessed property values.

Nitchoff, of Lemont, was also charged with two counts of using a facility in interstate commerce— a cellphone—in order to facilitate the acts of bribery.