A Chicago lumber company continued to receive city contracts after it's owner admitted to attempting to defraud the city in 2007, a review by the Chicago Tribune showed. Donald Beal, the owner of Arrow Lumber Co., said he participated in a scheme with former City Trades Supervisor Kevin O'Gorman to divert building materials, purchased with taxpayer money, to O'Gorman for personal use. The newspaper's review found that Arrow Lumber continued to gain city contracts, with one worth $500,000, following the admission. The city began the process of debarring, or blacklisting, Arrow Lumber from doing work with the city in September. Debarment would cost the company millions of dollars in city contracts, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Beal made the admission during his testimony, for which he was granted immunity, as part O'Gorman's trial in 2007. O'Gorman was acquitted of the charges in January. The lumber company has since paid back the cost of the diverted material. Arrow Lumber has been awarded a number of city contracts through both the public school system and the city's park district and currently holds a five-year contract worth $50 million with the city.