The dust-up swirling over the Bureau of Special Investigation needs a decent private detective. Trouble is, the one detective who can clear it up is dead.
He is Art LeTourneau, a grizzled gumshoe who operated the private investigation agency for nearly 30 years before his passing Sept. 26. His longtime partner, Ernie Rizzo, who has a reputation as rich and sordid as a private detective can have, contacted the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation to take over all of the business’ operations.
Weeks passed. Rizzo was waiting for his paperwork. He called several times. Finally, the department informed him someone else was listed as the licensee in charge. That someone else is William J. Maio, DuPage County Board member.
Rizzo is agitated.
“He never worked for me. He never worked for Art. He never worked for the Bureau of Special Investigation,” Rizzo said. “All he is, is a politician with some juice who wants to carry a gun and a badge and pretend he’s a cop, and that’s what he’s doing.”
Maio is indignant.
“I’ve done everything I can to follow the rules and regulations of the department and the laws of the state,” Maio said, “and now Ernie Rizzo is trying to victimize me.”
Department of Professional Regulation records suggest that Maio’s version is closer to the truth.
Within a week of LeTourneau’s death and several days before Rizzo sent his letter to the agency, the department received a letter from Lincolnshire attorney Kenneth Roberts, claiming to represent the business and asking that temporary permission to operate the Bureau of Special Investigation be given to Maio. The letter stated that Maio had been an employee of LeTourneau’s since May 1996.
And then there’s a letter to the agency, dated Aug. 29, 1996, signed by Rizzo and LeTourneau and notarized by Roberts. In the letter, Rizzo states: “I will no longer be a member or owner of this agency . . . the name of which is the Bureau of Special Investigation.”
Those documents would suggest strongly that Rizzo, who in nearly 40 much-publicized years as a private detective, has represented or claimed to represent an assortment of clients from Henry Hyde to Yoko Ono, is being less than forthcoming.
He also has something of a checkered past, being convicted in 1977 of illegal wiretapping and losing his license for several years.
But Rizzo is adamant about this one.
He said he and LeTourneau routinely would pass chief licensee designation for the agency between each other every three years to keep their licenses “alive,” and he said that Maio lacks proper credentials to be a licensee in charge.
His explanation for swapping licensee rights has left officials at the Department of Professional Regulation scratching their heads.
“We have never required a private detective to own or operate a private detective firm to maintain a license,” department spokesman Tony Sanders said.
Rizzo’s contention that Maio lacks credentials is half-right. Maio is not a licensed private detective. But, Maio does possess an Illinois permanent employee registration card, which allows him to work for a private investigative firm, and a state firearms authorization card, which allows him to carry a gun. Thursday morning, Maio took a test to obtain his state private detective license.
But the intriguing aspect of Rizzo’s claim is a phone number discrepancy. Directory assistance lists Rizzo’s office phone number for the Bureau of Special Investigation. Maio has an unlisted number–curious for a business–as the phone contact for the Bureau of Special Investigation.
And, Rizzo contends that Maio has no evidence of being paid by the Bureau of Special Investigation.
When asked about his employment for the agency, Maio said little more than he worked as a process server. He added that he has had an interest in police work for most of his life and “never pursued it.”
He said he met LeTourneau around 1994 through a police friend, and two years later, Maio said, he went to work for LeTourneau. Several months afterward, Maio said, he put up “less than $10,000” to fund the license transfer that Rizzo apparently agreed to in the August 1996 letter. Maio said the business “looked like it had a lot of potential.”
He added that Rizzo would have no way of knowing whether Maio worked for the Bureau of Special Investigation because Maio insisted when he funded the license transfer that Rizzo have no involvement in the business.
At this point, Rizzo’s options seem limited to filing a lawsuit.
“We have been looking into Mr. Rizzo’s claims,” said Sanders of the Department of Professional Regulation, “but until he has adequate proof, we’ll stick with what we’ve got here, which is that Mr. Maio is in charge.”
