Gov. Pat Quinn’s office is launching an internal review after a published report that a worker hired to oversee millions of dollars in the governor’s anti-violence program had a prior conviction for a financial crime.
Benton Cook III was hired by a not-for-profit group called Chicago Area Project to work on Quinn’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the U.S. Justice Department are looking into the program Quinn started in 2010 and later shut down. A state audit found problems that included questions about mismanagement and expenditures.