“It seems as if Sycamore is doing at the local level what the Cayman Islands does at the federal level.”-Brian Imus, Illinois Public Interest Research Group

16 January 2013, the Regional Transportation Agency (RTA) is now charging United Airlines and American Airlines with tax fraud!

It says the airlines ripped off the city of Chicago, and Cook County, Illinois, and the RTA itself, to the tune of $300 million USD in lost taxes since 2005.

The RTA says United and American airlines did this by setting up fake fueling operations in an Illinois town called Sycamore.  RTA says the address United gave for its fueling operations is a Sycamore strip mall, and American’s fueling operations are located in a windowless office in the Sycamore town hall.

“The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) is alleging that United Airlines and American Airlines operate sham offices in Sycamore, Il. that they use to avoid paying higher taxes from their actual offices in Chicago. These small, part-time offices are rarely occupied and, in at least one case, don’t appear to even have a computer. But both multi-billion dollar companies claim they purchase their jet fuel – one of their largest expenses – from those offices.”–RTA press release