Igolnikov, a vice president of Chicago Elite Cab Corp., was a longtime business associate of Simon Garber, a Russian-born millionaire businessman who came to Chicago in 2002 and used his political connections to rise to the top of the competitive cab industry. Garber gave generous contributions to former Mayor Richard Daley's campaign fund and paid Daley's former chief of staff Gery Chico as a lobbyist for his companies, Chicago Carriage Cab Corp. and Royal 3 CCC, records show.