Automobile towing and salvage companies and two strip clubs were hit with the search warrants Feb. 8 as FBI agents fanned out in Southwest Philadelphia and South Jersey.
Documents and other items were taken from the auto-salvage businesses and from the Clementon home of Henry P. "Eddie" Alfano, who has been described by investigative sources as a former Philadelphia police officer and one of the primary targets of the probe.
City records indicate that a Henry P. Alfano retired from the department in September 1970.
Alfano, his businesses, and his political connections in Philadelphia and South Jersey are all part of the investigation, those sources said. One of his companies has had a towing contract with the city for five years and has been paid more than $500,000 for its services, according to the City Controller's Office.
Alfano did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Written in turgid legalese, the five-page search warrant asked for any documents that would demonstrate the "transfer of goods of supply of services to public officials and public employees."
Public officials of interest, according to the document, included Dominic Verdi, an L&I deputy commissioner who works out of Police Headquarters and is the liaison between L&I and the Police Department.
Verdi did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Whether Verdi has any connection to or interest in a South Philadelphia beer distributorship also listed on the warrant is one area that investigators are probing.
The distributorship - Chappy's Beer, Butts & Bets - has been the focus of FBI scrutiny for several months, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
