(a) If the Chief Procurement Officer determines, after notice and a hearing before the CPO and upon receipt of a nonbinding recommendation from the Board or the Contracting Equity officer, that a contractor, M.B.E. or W.B.E. has made fraudulent misrepresentations to the City regarding the utilization or status of M.B.E.s or W.B.E.s, or has colluded with another making such fraudulent misrepresentations, the contractor, M.B.E. or W.B.E., as the case may be, shall be declared ineligible to contract or subcontract on additional contracts. Upon making a finding of ineligibility, the Chief Procurement Officer shall determine the period of ineligibility imposed, which may include permanent or indefinite ineligibility or some lesser penalty. No M.B.E. or W.B.E. shall be disqualified for collusive misrepresentations unless all parties with which the M.B.E. or W.B.E. was found to have colluded are also disqualified. The City shall regard as nonresponsive any bid submitted during such period of ineligibility which includes a disqualified entity as a contractor, subcontractor or member of a joint venture. In the event that a contractor submitting a bid is determined by D.P.S. not to have been involved in any misrepresentation of the status of a disqualified subcontractor included in the bid, D.P.S. may allow the contractor to discharge the disqualified subcontractor and, if possible, identify and engage a qualified subcontractor as its replacement for inclusion in the bid. The consequences provided herein shall be in addition to any other criminal or civil liability to which such entities may be subject. D.P.S. shall inform the State's Attorney of Cook County of instances of fraudulent misrepresentation and collusion.
(b) In addition to any other penalty imposed by law, any person who knowingly obtains, or knowingly assists another in obtaining, a contract with the city by falsely representing that the individual or entity, or the individual or entity assisted, is a minority-owned business or a woman-owned business is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by incarceration in the county jail for a period not to exceed six months or a fine of not less than $5,000.00 and not more than $10,000, or both.
(c) All funds collected as penalties or fines under this section shall be used for the purposes set forth in Section 2-92-445(e).
(Prior code § 26-113; Added Coun. J. 7-31-90, p. 19319; Amend Coun. J. 7-19-00, p. 38206, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 9-4-02, p. 92670, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 3-9-05, p. 43512, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 5-14-08, p. 27074, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 12-2-09, p. 78837, Art. 4, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 11-16-11, p. 13798, Art. IV, § 3; Amend Coun. J. 10-27-21, p. 39543, Art. III, § 2)