CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett may have been involved in a shady deal that awarded her former employer a $20.5 million no-bid contract.

The U.S. attorney’s office launched an investigation into a deal between the district and SUPES Academy – Byrd-Bennett’s previous employer – after school district investigators began looking into her relationship with the company in 2013, a source told the Chicago Tribune.

The news site reports “a grand jury has been reviewing evidence for at least a year, the source said.”

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“Yesterday the board of education was made aware that federal authorities are investigating a matter at CPS and have requested interviews with several employees,” CPS board president David Vitale said in an emailed statement, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

“We take any allegation of misconduct seriously, and we are fully cooperating with investigators who requested that we not discuss any specifics regarding the ongoing investigation,” he wrote.

SUPES and CPS reportedly entered into a contract for leadership training shortly after Byrd-Bennett was appointed to the district’s top post by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in October 2012. Byrd-Bennett previously worked as a consultant for SUPES as recently as April 2012, the Tribune reports.

Investigators have released few details on the case, and have not formally accused the CEO of wrongdoing, but have seized records related to a $20.5 million contract with SUPES for “leadership development services” that runs from June 2013 to June 2016.

“District records show SUPES was hired on a ‘non-competitive basis’ but the contract was reviewed and approved by an internal committee and the district’s chief procurement officer, records show,” according to the Tribune.

That contract was approved by the school board at its June 2013 meeting and extended an existing one-year contract with SUPES from 2012.

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SUPES Academy spokesman Dennis Culloton confirmed that agents “obtained records and files” from the company, but denies any dubious dealings.

“SUPES will of course cooperate with this investigation,” Culloton said in a statement to the Tribune, adding that SUPES “stands behind the countless hours of training it has provided to Chicago Public Schools principals.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel discussed the developments at a news conference Wednesday, but didn’t have a lot to say about the case.

“I don’t even know who they’re looking at. It’s a CPS matter,” Emanuel said, according to the Sun Times.

“The federal authorities that are investigating don’t share a lot while they have an active investigation. So, I’m as eager as you are for answers to questions. [But] I’m not the person that can provide them at this moment,” he added. “While it’s ongoing, we have to respect and I’m going to honor their request.”

Emanuel told the media he spoke with Byrd-Bennett briefly Tuesday before a Chicago Public Education Fund luncheon, but she offered few details.

“She said the authorities are looking at a matter at CPS,” he said. “Then I had to go into the luncheon to give a speech.”

The Tribune reports Byrd-Bennett was previously at the center of an investigation while serving as head of the Cleveland school district between 1998 and 2006 “for her use of private donations on expensive hotels and fancy restaurants,” but state auditors cleared her of any wrongdoing.

Byrd-Bennett is currently under a $250,000 a year contract that runs until June 30, the Tribune reports.