Chaka Fattah Jr., the son of Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), was sentenced today to five years in prison for fraud and tax charges. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III ordered Fattah Jr. to pay $1,172,157 in restitution.
Fattah Jr. has suggested that the trial had never really been about him, saying as he left the courtroom last year, “This entire investigation has been politically motivated. If my dad wasn’t the congressman, nobody would be going after me.” Fattah Jr.’s famous father, Rep. Chaka Fattah, has been in Congress for nearly twenty years and currently sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
Despite his assertions, on November 5, 2015, a federal jury found Fattah Jr. guilty of 22 counts, including bank fraud; making false statements to banks to obtain loans; making false statements to banks and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to settle loans for less than what was owed; filing false federal income tax returns for tax years 2005, 2006 and 2008; failing to pay federal income tax; wire fraud; and theft from a program receiving federal funds. Fattah Jr. served as his own attorney during his trial.
Fattah Jr. had been accused of submitting a “series of false and fraudulent applications for lines of credit from financial institutions… under false pretenses” to obtain loans for personal expenses. Allegedly, he used those loans to pay “personal expenses, including car payments, food, restaurant and club expenses, utilities, clothing, electronics, retail purchases, charitable donations, jewelry, entertainment, legal fees, and personal credit card expenses” instead of “working capital and other business expenses as required by the loan agreements.” When he couldn’t pay those loans back, the feds alleged that Fattah Jr. lied about his finances. Banks that Fattah Jr. had been charged with securing loans from by the use of fraudulent applications include Citizens Bank ($26,000); PNC Bank ($30,000); Sun National Bank ($50,000); Bank of America ($10,000); Wachovia, now Wells Fargo ($25,000); United Bank ($50,000); Philadelphia Federal Credit Union ($15,000).
Evidence presented at trial indicated that, in 2005, Fattah Jr. and an associate provided fake records for companies that they claimed to operate to local banks in order to obtain numerous business lines of credit. Those lines of credit were then used primarily to pay personal expenses, including gambling debts. The evidence also showed, among other things, that Fattah Jr. provided false information to two banks and the SBA in order to settle some of those loans after he defaulted.
On the tax side, evidence showed that Fattah Jr. filed false federal income tax returns for tax years 2005, 2006, and 2008, and failed to pay the federal income tax due in a timely manner in 2010.
Despite his guilty verdict, Fattah Jr. has continued to deny wrongdoing. At his sentencing, Fattah Jr. told the judge, “I didn’t know anything I did was a violation of the law.”
Fattah Jr. isn’t the only member of his famous family who has been under the watch of the feds. Last year, a 29 count indictment was handed down to Fattah, as well as lobbyist Herbert Vederman, 69, of Palm Beach, Florida; Fattah’s Congressional District Director Bonnie Bowser, 59, of Philadelphia; and Robert Brand, 69, of Philadelphia; and Karen Nicholas, 57, of Williamstown, New Jersey. The five were charged with participating in a racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including bribery; conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and honest services fraud; and multiple counts of mail fraud, falsification of records, bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and money laundering. The Congressman has denied the charges and has vowed to remain in the Congress while he fights the charges. His trial is slated for May: he’ll face the same judge that sentenced his son.
