Alleged bribe at Wilmette Village Hall leads to arrest; investigation remains open

A former Village of Wilmette employee was arrested Wednesday for accepting a bribe to expedite a work permit, according to the Village and a police report.

Leonardo Lara, a 53-year-old Highland Park resident and former permit clerk with the Village, allegedly accepted $100 from a local contractor on April 21 at Wilmette Village Hall. He was charged on May 6 with bribery, official misconduct and failure to report a bribe, police documents show.

According to those documents, another Village employee witnessed and reported the bribe on April 21, and Lara resigned later that day following an interview with Wilmette police.

The contractor who allegedly executed the bribe remains under investigation, the Village says, and officials declined to share his name during the active investigation.

“These actions were a violation of public trust, and we have zero tolerance for any such conduct,” Village Manager Mike Braiman said in a statement. “… Our commitment to transparency, ethical governance, and the rule of law will continue throughout this entire process.”

Braiman also thanked the reporting witness, the Wilmette Police Department and Cook County prosecutors “who took this matter seriously and acted quickly so that the former employee can be held accountable.”

Communication between Lara and the contractor remains under investigation, according to Braiman, saying that it is currently unclear if and how any work permits were expedited.

The Village of Wilmette hired Lara in 2015 as a permit clerk, a position responsible for issuing (but not approving) contract permits, responding to customers at the front counter of the Community Development Department, and scheduling building inspections, among other things, said Braiman in a followup interview.

On April 21 at Village Hall, Lara allegedly received a folded-up $100 bill via a handshake with a contractor at the front counter — an incident reportedly witnessed by another Village employee.

Police documents say the witness reported the alleged bribe to her supervisor who reported it to the Wilmette Police Department, leading to an investigation that began with interviews at Village Hall that day.

Lara reportedly admitted to police that the contractor gave him a $100 bill and showed the bill — which was “folded approximately four times” — to the interviewing officer, the police report says.

According to the report, Lara said he met the contractor about 10 years ago and the two used to bet on soccer matches. Lara reportedly said sometimes he would receive beer in his car following the bets, and those payments changed to $100 bills.

He acknowledged to police he knew he could not accept cash in his role as a Village of Wilmette permit clerk, interview documents say.

The Village of Wilmette “Employee Personnel Manual,” a portion of which is included in the police report, explains that “village employees are prohibited from accepting … gifts” from any person or organization that does business with or is associated with the Village. The manual states that the offering of any such gift, which includes liquor, must be reported to a Village supervisor.

Lara reportedly told police he accepted cash from the contractor once or twice a year for several years. He estimated, according to the report, that in total he received $1,000 from the contractor over five or six years.

The report says that Lara, though, denied ever expediting the contractor’s permits.

The witness to the incident, however, reportedly told police that the contractor “always asks for Leo (Lara),” and that Lara provides preferential treatment to the contractor. The witness had previously told her supervisors about Lara’s unique behavior around the contractor, the report says.

Another Village employee who works in the permitting office reportedly told police that prioritizing certain permit applications could save a contractor “a lot of time. It could be days, weeks.”

The police investigation revealed that in the past 14 years (October 2012-March 2026) the Village has issued the contractor 77 contract permits. Over the past year, the contractor reportedly has received 10 such permits — seven of them via Lara.

Braiman said permit clerks do not have the authority to approve permits or officially review plans. Village employees, though, told police that clerks do schedule inspections and speak with application reviewers.

Braiman further explained that once a permit application is filed it must go through a zoning review, code review (fire, electric, etc.) and possibly a tree-preservation or engineering review, depending on the project. The contractor then typically receives change requests before the application is sent back through the reviews prior to approval. Once a permit is approved, a permit clerk would physically issue the permit at Village Hall and the recipient would pay for the permit with the financial department, which is located across the hall on the first floor of Village Hall.

The Village has two full-time permit clerks and a permitting supervisor, according to Braiman. Lara’s annual salary in 2025 was $71,153, documents show.

The Village reportedly was already planning to install a new permitting system that includes digital distribution of approved permits, removing the permit clerks from that process.

Braiman said he is “very comfortable with the thorough” police investigation that reportedly did not find further evidence of bribery at Village Hall.

“Processes can always be improved and we are certainly going to be reviewing all the relevant processes as it relates to this instance,” he said. 

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