In Paul Vallas’ ultimately losing effort to become Chicago mayor, his campaign paid a political consultant nearly $700,000 to help win over Black voters — work Vallas now claims in a lawsuit was not performed.

The suit, filed late Thursday against Chimaobi Enyia and his business, states Vallas was the victim of fraud, unjust enrichment and “in the alternative, breach of contract” by Enyia, who was a vice president at a local cannabis company and is a current board member of the Chicago Philharmonic.

Enyia also was a former director of the Illinois Liquor Control Commission and is the brother of 2019 mayoral candidate Amara Enyia. During the campaign, Vallas spoke openly about hiring Chimaobi Enyia for a high level position in his administration had he won.

Vallas says in the suit that Enyia used the pressure of the runoff election April 4 against Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson to squeeze hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Vallas campaign amid claims Enyia was building support for Vallas in the Black communities as well as placing pro-Vallas signage and removing anti-Vallas signs in the neighborhoods.

“This suit is someone taking advantage of a campaign in the heat of, days before an election, for services that were not rendered at the time he promised or allegedly promised,” said Vallas’ attorney, Steven Laduzinsky.

“He duped him, he misrepresented all these services were provided,” Laduzinsky said. “We’ll see where the money went, that’s how these cases pan out.”

Vallas alleges in the suit that he spoke with Enyia in January and Enyia claimed “he had many connections in Chicago’s Black communities that were supportive of Vallas” and that Enyia’s professional experience gave him influence with other Black voters.

The suit alleges Vallas traveled with Enyia “to multiple meetings and gatherings in the South and West sides of Chicago,” where Enyia introduced Vallas “to pastors, ministers, congregations, community organizations and groups in Chicago’s Black community.”

Vallas also was familiar with Enyia from his work on Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign and that other previous candidates for elected office had vouched for Enyia “and that he made the introductions necessary for a candidate to reach out to Chicago’s Black community. Vallas also verified Chima’s professional experience,” according to the suit.

In March, Enyia asked Vallas’ campaign manager, Brian Towne, to become a strategist or consultant and be paid $40,000 a month, according to the lawsuit. Though Vallas initially balked because others on the campaign were making only $10,000 to $20,000 per month, the campaign and Enyia eventually agreed Enyia would be paid $40,000 to work in March and April, according to the lawsuit.

Just weeks before Election Day, Vallas’ lawsuit alleges, Enyia in mid-March told Towne that Vallas had approved a plan for Enyia and his business, Ikoro LLC, to place Vallas signs in Black communities for $200,000, and also to remove other campaign signs that linked Vallas to former Republican President Donald Trump by having Vallas’ campaign logo next to Trump’s “MAGA 2024″ logo. Earlier this month, Enyia changed the name of his company to ARO Holdings, according to state records.

Those signs sprung up largely in Black neighborhoods and worked to hurt Vallas, who insisted he was a lifelong Democrat even as he was backed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police and had other support from right-wing groups and individuals.

The alleged arrangement between Enyia and Towne — which was never memorialized in writing — is referred to in the lawsuit as “Chima’s Fake Consulting Services Agreement.” Vallas “never knew or approved” of that agreement, according to the lawsuit, which repeatedly refers to Enyia as “Chima.”

“From March 15 to April 3, 2023, Chima (Enyia) would call Towne stating that he was paying hundreds of people on the streets to remove the Vallas for Mayor signs that had been vandalized and unauthorized MAGA signs containing the name Vallas for Mayor that had been placed in Black communities, when in fact in was only Chima himself removing the signs,” the lawsuit alleges.

The suit describes a series of demands for payment that Enyia sent to Vallas’ campaign staff, which were all ultimately approved by Towne. Towne did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

The suit also describes Enyia as repeatedly submitting invoices and demanding quick payment, warning that workers would quit or go to work for Johnson. That includes around March 20 or March 21, when Enyia contacted Vallas’ staff for a $200,000 payment and said “unless payment was received immediately, the workers would … go over to the ‘other side,’ referring to the Johnson campaign.”

“Enyia submitted another $80,000 invoice for “consulting,” around March 30, the suit said, and “stated that unless payment was received immediately the workers would stop working for Vallas” with the election only days away.

It was not until after the Election Day that Vallas himself reviewed the campaign’s finances and spotted a $200,000 payment to Enyia’s company.

In an April 10 phone call, the suit alleges “Vallas asked Chima to explain why he invoiced and received a $200,000 payment on March 20, 2023, and demanded Chima produce documents as to how the $200,000 was used. Chima became irate. Chima stated that there were no receipts for how Chima used the funds. Vallas demanded that Chima return the funds to Vallas of Mayor. Chima refused to provide any documents and to return the funds.”

Vallas the next day called Enyia and demanded an accounting, which the suit states Enyia refused to give.

On Friday, Enyia declined to comment about the lawsuit but said his attorney would provide a statement “early next week.”

According to the suit, Vallas’ campaign made a $200,000 payment to Enyia on March 10, another $200,000 payment on March 21, an $80,000 payment 10 days later, and a $200,000 payment on April 3, the day before the election.

State campaign finance records show Vallas’ campaign made a total of $500,000 in payments to Ikoro LLC in the final days of the runoff campaign between March 20 and March 30. $20,000 was for “consulting,” and $480,000 were described as “disputed.” Campaign expenditures for April 1 through June 30 will not be made available until July.

Payments to Ikoro were just a portion of the $17.7 million Vallas reported spending between the start of the year and the end of March, but were among the largest expenditures the campaign made. Vallas ended up losing to Johnson 52% to 48%. Vallas, the former Chicago Public Schools CEO, campaigned as a problem solver and touted his management skills, though he faced allegations of being a poor manager from his time leading Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans schools.

aquig@chicagotribune.com

gpratt@chicagotribune.com