PART ELEVEN OF COUNTYLEAKS SERIES ON DUPAGE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE...
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, Part TenOn Nov. 9, 2o11, an undisclosed subcontractor of JRM Consulting, Inc. was sent by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (FPDDC) to pick up equipment from Alamach Technology, Inc.
Under contract, Alamach had provided all IT archives, email back-up, and disaster recovery for the FPDDC off-site in compliance with the Federal Regulations on Civil Procedures and the 2002 Homeland Security Act.
This equipment contained data that would be described as "the most crucial evidence in the case" of Arif Mahmood, former owner of Alamach. Mahmood would later be charged with 37 felony counts in alleged scheme to steal from the FPDDC. Also charged in this case were the District's former director of its IT department, Mark McDonald, and the department manager, David Tepper, each with 142 felony counts.
JRM had been paid $66,000 by the FPDDC in 2011 to conduct a secret internal forensic investigation of its IT department.
On Dec. 3, 2013, Mahmood's attorney, former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins, filed a motion to dismiss his client's case at the Henry J. Hyde Judicial Office Facility in Wheaton. Collins wrote:
Quite simply, the FPDDC's failure to preserve the most crucial evidence in the case has destroyed any meaningful opportunity Mahmood has to defend himself against the charges alleged. Because of this clear and irreparable violation of Mahmood's right to due process, the Court should dismiss the indictment as to Mahmood.Citizen watchdogs take it to another level, claiming that the off-site archives may have contained incriminating information of an individual or individuals connected with the FPDDC. This information, they allege, may have been at the heart of the 2011 covert internal investigation.
