How exactly does bribery concealment work?

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I am specifically asking about the method in this example:

>Exchange of funds through a legitimate business: A firm controlled by a public official pays a large sum of money to an unrelated corporation in return for fictitious invoices for alleged consulting fees. That corporation in turn makes checks payable to one of its corporate officers who then cash the checks with the aid of a bank official. The cash is returned to the first corporation’s officers who include the public official.

So what exactly is happening in this example? I am confused who is being bribed and who is doing the bribing (i.e. who the money is coming from and who the money is going to). It seems like the public official is just bribing himself as the large sum of money comes from his firm only for it to end up back in his pocket. This makes zero sense to me.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

At a glance that seems more like an embezzlement or tax evasion scheme to me, which frankly is probably how it’s meant to work.

Alderman A has $15,000 tied up in his company, which he doesn’t want to pay taxes on. Karen comes to the Alderman to ask for a zoning variance for her family business. Alderman A pays Karen’s company $15,000 for “consulting”, Karen’s company issues a corporate check to Karen’s husband Chad, who then gives Alderman A a bag containing $15,000 cash. Alderman A waves his magic wand and yada yada yada, zoning variance is granted.

Source: spend a lot of time in Chicago.

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