Workers for city contractor caught doing nothing, witness testifies

Workers at a minority-owned firm that took in millions of dollars in city contracts were allegedly caught on tape doing nothing as the firm farmed out the work elsewhere, federal court testimony alleged Thursday.

Federal authorities say they wired up an employee of Azteca Supply Co. — the largest female-owned subcontractor on former Mayor Richard Daley’s O’Hare Modernization Project — who recorded conversations at the firm over three months. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Azteca was little more than a shell that won minority contracts, then passed along the work to other firms.

A city investigator who testified Thursday in a lengthy sentencing hearing of Azteca’s owner, Aurora Venegas and her husband, Thomas Masen, said Azteca employees were heard on tape spending much of the work-day gossiping and watching TV.

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