Feds Signal Investigation Into Cook County Circuit Court Clerk's Office

CHICAGO (AP) -- The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has announced an indictment in what it describes as an ongoing investigation of the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk's office.

A Friday prosecutors' statement says Sivasubramani Rajaram is accused of lying to a grand jury investigating "possible criminal violations in connection with the purchasing of jobs and promotions within" the clerk's office.

It says the 48-year-old Glenview man loaned $15,000 in 2014 to Goat Masters Corporation, whose president was the husband of the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown. The following month, Rajaram was hired by the clerk's office.

He faces one count of making false declarations before a grand jury, which carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Rajaram's attorney wasn't named. A message seeking comment from the clerk's office wasn't returned.