Embattled former Reditus CEO takes the fifth on witness stand

PEKIN (25 News Now) - After more than 90 minutes into a hearing Tuesday afternoon, embattled former Reidtus CEO Aaron Rossi eventually took the witness stand in a civil suit.

The civil suit involves the company’s business partners including Jim Davie as they accuse Rossi of shutting them out of the company while it made a fortune off of $200 million in state COVID-19 contracts.

The company was placed into receivership and is now disbanding.

At issue now is where the company’s assets will go.

To prove their case, Davie’s lawyers want access to communications between Rossi and his then-lawyer Michael Evans.

Rossi was put on the stand to try and prove Evans was acting on the company’s behalf when he wrote up several contracts - including one with the Illinois Department of Public Health.

But Rossi did not answer those questions, as his lawyers advised him to invoke the 5th Amendment because of the ongoing federal tax and mail fraud charges against him.

There is also an apparent criminal investigation into Reditus’ billing practices.

Two others also got called to the witness stand - the court-appointed receiver, Adam Silverman and former lawyer for Rossi Michael Evans.

While testifying, Evans seemed to side with Rossi’s version of events, saying “I viewed my role as representing Aaron Rossi...”

Rossi’s lawyers tried repeatedly to avoid his appearance on the stand, saying it would be redundant.

One of the only questions he answered was to give his own name.

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