CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a loan originator of orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme that bilked multiple financial institutions out of $2.6 million.KEVIN SMITH, 52, of Melrose Park, Ill., was found guilty on Sept. 6, 2024, of all five bank fraud counts against him.  Each count is punishable by up to 30 years in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge John F. Kness set sentencing for Dec. 17, 2024.Smith was a loan…

CHICAGO — A former attorney has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for embezzlement and fraud in connection with the failure of Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago.ROBERT M. KOWALSKI served a key role in an embezzlement scheme at Washington Federal.  The bank, which was based in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, was shut down in 2017 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined that it was insolvent…

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago businessman has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for willfully evading more than $3.7 million in federal and state income taxes.ABRAHAM KISWANI 54, of Burbank, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal tax evasion charge.  In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah on Thursday fined Kiswani $10,000.Kiswani served as the president of World Security Bureau, a Chicago-area…

CHICAGO — A former board member of the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to falsify bank records to deceive the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and for filing false tax returns.WILLIAM M. MAHON, 57, of Chicago, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and tax charges.  In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall ordered…

CHICAGO — A former employee of the Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for using “straw buyers” to fraudulently purchase and resell properties from the agency on his behalf.MUSTAFAA SALEH, 37, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a wire fraud charge.  U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood imposed the year-and-a-day prison sentence during a hearing Friday in federal court in Chicago…

CHICAGO — A man has been convicted in federal court of obtaining money by threat from a strip club in a Chicago suburb.ROMMELL KELLOGG, 71, of Harvey, Ill., was convicted Monday on all five counts against him, including conspiracy to commit theft and intimidation and causing the use of facilities in interstate commerce to promote theft and intimidation.  The jury returned its verdicts after a week-long trial in U.S. District Court in…

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted the mayor of Riverdale, Ill. for allegedly lying under oath in a civil deposition and corruptly obstructing a lawsuit that claimed the mayor retaliated against a former city vendor.LAWRENCE JACKSON, 49, of Riverdale, Ill, is charged with one count of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice, according to the indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. …

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted the president of an environmental services company for allegedly obstructing an investigation into the grant funding of a hotel demolition project in the Chicago suburb of Harvey, Ill. CARL FIORAVANTI, 55, of Lansing, Ill., is charged with one count of obstruction of justice, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The charge is punishable by up to 20…

CHICAGO — Three former board members of the failed Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago have pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to falsify bank records to deceive the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. WILLIAM M. MAHON, 56, of Chicago, and GEORGE F. KOZDEMBA, 73, of Fort Myers, Fla., pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge during a hearing Monday before U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall.  Mahon’s guilty…

BENTON, Ill. – A U.S. district judge sentenced the former executive director of the Jefferson County Housing Authority to spend 10 months in federal prison after he converted more than $20,000 in authority funds for personal expenses. In addition to the prison sentence, Thomas J. Upchurch, 53, now of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, was ordered to pay $20,150 in restitution back to the housing authority, and he will serve one year of supervised…

URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Illinois, man, Lekevie C. Johnson, formerly of the 2000 block of Clayton Boulevard, was sentenced on April 10, 2023, to 10 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay $59,358.90 restitution following his December 2022 guilty pleas to financial crimes including federal program misapplication, student loan misapplication, and false statement in bankruptcy. Johnson was formerly the pastor of Mount Calvary Missionary…

CHICAGO — A federal jury has found a former Illinois attorney and real estate developer guilty on two counts of embezzlement, six counts of bankruptcy fraud, and eight counts of tax fraud following a nearly four week-long trial in Chicago. Evidence at trial revealed that ROBERT KOWALSKI, 61, of Chicago was a close associate of John Gembara, the former President of Washington Federal Bank for Savings (“WFBS”), a small bank in Chicago’s…

URBANA, Ill. – Lekevie C. Johnson, 47, formerly of the 2000 block of Clayton Boulevard in Champaign, Illinois, pleaded guilty on December 1, 2022, to Federal Program Misapplication, Student Loan Misapplication, and False Statement in Bankruptcy. Sentencing for Johnson has been scheduled on April 10, 2023, at the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana, Illinois. In court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric I. Long, Johnson admitted that he was formerly the…

CHICAGO — A former employee of the Cook County Land Bank Authority used “straw buyers” to fraudulently purchase and resell properties from the agency on his behalf, according to a federal fraud charge filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. MUSTAFAA SALEH, 36, of Chicago, is charged with one count of wire fraud.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.  Arraignment in U.S. District Court in…

CHICAGO — A police officer in Harvey, Ill., threatened to interfere with local towing companies’ ability to compete for city work unless they paid him cash and other benefits, according to a federal indictment. From 2011 to 2019, DERRICK MUHAMMAD served as a Harvey Police Officer and oversaw the Harvey Police Department’s Traffic Division.  The role provided Muhammad with the authority to assign City of Harvey towing work to private…

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – Shomanicka Holly, 36, of East Saint Louis, Illinois, pled guilty today to a two-count felony information charging her with health care fraud and making materially false statements on a public housing form. As part of her plea, Holly admitted to defrauding a government funded health care program by requesting payment for services that she never performed.  The Illinois Department of Human Services (“IDHS”) operates a…

CHICAGO — An ongoing federal investigation into the failure of Washington Federal Bank for Savings in Chicago has resulted in criminal charges against three former members of the bank’s Board of Directors who allegedly conspired to obstruct regulators and falsify bank records. Washington Federal was closed in December 2017 after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency determined that the bank was insolvent and had at least $66 million in…

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted a real estate developer and three others for allegedly participating in a mortgage fraud scheme that defrauded financial institutions out of at least $3 million. ANDRZEJ LAJEWSKI, who owned Des Plaines-based Highland Consulting Corp., and Chicago-based Quality Management and Remodeling Inc., schemed with two mortgage professionals and the owner of a remodeling company to fraudulently obtain at least…

CHICAGO — A north suburban financial adviser has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly swindling clients who had sought her assistance in purchasing a new home after foreclosure. MARY MARTINEZ, also known as Mary Flores, 53, of Glencoe, is charged with ten counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Arraignment has not yet been scheduled. The indictment was announced by John…

CHICAGO — The owner of several Illinois nursing homes has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly skimming money from federally insured facilities that had defaulted on mortgage loans to pay expenses of a non-federally insured facility. MARK YAMPOL, 57, of St. Louis, Mo., is charged with one count of equity skimming, according to an indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The charge is punishable by…