CHICAGO — The head of a Chicago not-for-profit organization
fraudulently converted or misappropriated at least $200,000 in State of
Illinois grants intended to develop suburban commercial properties and fund a
job training program, according to a 15-count federal indictment.
YESSE YEHUDAH operated the not-for-profit organization
Fulfilling Our Responsibilities Unto Mankind, also known as FORUM. From 2013 to 2016, Yehudah, on behalf of
FORUM, applied for and received three grants totaling approximately $575,000
from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Two of the grants were intended to develop
commercial properties in south suburban Dolton, while the third was meant for
FORUM to operate a weatherization jobs training program. The indictment alleges that Yehudah
fraudulently converted substantial quantities of the grant funds by making
materially false statements and submitting false documents to the DCEO. The indictment describes several of the
alleged false statements, including when Yehudah represented to the DCEO that
FORUM had spent almost all of a $100,000 grant on construction work, when, in
fact, no actual construction work had begun.
The indictment was returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court
in Chicago. Yehudah, 71, of Chicago, is
charged with eight counts of bank fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Arraignment has not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United
States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr.,
Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and Teri Donaldson,
Inspector General, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Inspector General. The DCEO provided valuable assistance during
the investigation. The government is
represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean J.B. Franzblau.
In addition to the alleged fraud in obtaining the DCEO
grants, the indictment accuses Yehudah of scheming to defraud a bank. After FORUM received similar development
grants from the DCEO and other federal and local agencies, including the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Community and Economic
Development Association of Cook County, Yehudah issued checks from FORUM and
another entity he controlled to various subcontractors, the indictment
states. Yehudah then forged the
subcontractors’ signatures – without their knowledge – to endorse the checks
over to himself, the indictment alleges.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of
guilt. The defendant is presumed
innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of
proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Each count of bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison,
while each count of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. If convicted, the Court must impose a
reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines.
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