OIG Releases Fourth Quarter 2025 Report, Documenting Ethics Ordinance Violations, Improper Campaign Contributions, and more PPP Loan Fraud by City Employees

FOR RELEASE:
January 15, 2026

PRESS CONTACT:
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773-478-8417

The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General(OIG) has published its Quarterly Report for the fourth quarter of 2025, which summarizes concluded investigations, inquiries, intakes, and other operations of OIG, from October 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. This report has been filed with City Council, as required by § 2-56-120 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (MCC).

"The work of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) in the fourth quarter of 2025 reflected our ongoing commitment to the aggressive pursuit of accountability for those who abuse the public trust," said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago.

This quarter, OIG reported on investigations which led to recommending the termination of five City employees-including one who spent hours of City time at a social club and another who fabricated an on-duty injury to get workers' compensation-and three casesin which the Board of Ethics found probable cause to believe that the subjectof an OIG investigation broke the City's ethics rules.

Among the sustainedadministrative misconductcases reported this quarter are two in which OIG found that members of the Chicago Police Department(CPD) fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. OIG recommended that both be separated from CPD, and CPD agreed. "These PPP cases represent an enormous investment of investigative resources, and we will continue to report out on their outcomes; I am pleased to report that to date City departments have agreed to fire every City employee against whom we have sustained PPP fraud allegations; I continue to believe that people cannot both work for the government and defraud the government," said Witzburg.

Additionally, OIG's work this quarter resulted in the return of more than $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions to candidates for City office, more than OIG has reported in any other quarter. "We have spent the last several years building our processes and capacities for enforcement of the City's campaign finance rules; this is how we have worked to combat the impression-and perhaps the reality-that there's a 'for sale' sign on the door to City Hall," Witzburg said.

Q4 2025 by the Numbers

OIG received 2,909 new intakes in Q4 2025. Of OIG's 290 active misconduct investigations at the close of the quarter, 246 are into City employees; 20 into elected officials; 19 into contractors, subcontractors, and persons seeking contracts; and five into others. The nature of allegations under investigation for the majority, 289, are for misconduct, and one is for ineffectiveness. OIG staff reviewed 266 individual closed disciplinary investigations conducted by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and CPD's Bureau of Internal Affairsand recommended 24 of them be reopened for a material deficiency in the investigation.

Read the Report

Read the full report, released on January 15, 2026.

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About the Office of Inspector General (OIG)

The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.

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