Former Rossi employee wants Reditus Labs financial records unsealed amid lawsuit

PEKIN (25 NEWS) - A week after the CEO of Reditus Laboratories was indicted on federal tax fraud charges that predate that company, a former employee of one of his companies says its full financial records need unsealed.

An ongoing 2021 Tazewell County civil lawsuit from a former business partner accuses Reditus CEO Aaron Rossi of shutting him out. Also in the suit, plaintiff James Davie alleges Rossi continued to “pillage” the company to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and his family, complete with private planes and a fleet of luxury vehicles. Some of that lawsuit, including the company’s financial details, remains under seal.

Kelly Murphy was Chief Financial Officer for one of Rossi’s companies, PAL Health Technologies, in 2019, shortly after Reditus was founded but before it made its fortune off of more than $200 million in state COVID testing contracts.

“If I’m spending $250 million in state money, I would really love to know that the man I’m doing business with is above board, has integrity, is ethical and not taking the State of Illinois to the cleaners,” Murphy said. “The truth about the integrity, the ethics and more importantly at this point the financial importance of unsealing these records to have the truth come out.”

Murphy claims PAL fired her after complaining she wasn’t getting paid weeks after her hiring. While she worked there, she says she made significant cuts to balance the company’s budget. She argues, based on what she’s seen, those financial records must be unsealed.

“I hope the community, the local community and people are not duped as I believe many have been to include myself,” Murphy said.

One former Reditus employee who worked there for six months says it was a culture of silence.

“Everyone was like ‘Wow, they are paying us $16 to $25 an hour. Why am I going to speak up about this when they are paying us more than minimum wage?’” the employee said.

That employee asked to remain anonymous. Before they were laid off, they describe large parties on company property, minimal training procedures and inconsistent cleanliness, like staff not wearing gloves to handle test tubes.

“Anybody that’s ever worked there, and if you interview more people, they will say the same thing. We all knew, and we always knew that Rossi was spending very extravagantly with the money he made from the company,” the employee said.

Lawyers have filed a motion to unseal the lawsuit and financial records. That matter will come before a judge at a hearing Wednesday. There has been no comment from Reditus, despite several phone calls and emails to a spokesperson.

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