Pennsylvania US Rep. Fattah indicted in racketeering case

Justice Department officials were unsparing in their comments about the case, announced on Wednesday in a DOJ press release.

Chaka Fattah was indicted Wednesday on racketeering charges, accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars from various accounts. “When elected officials betray the trust and confidence placed in them by the public, the department will do everything we can to ensure that they are held accountable”.

Charges include racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and bank fraud, among other offenses. In exchange for Fattah’s efforts to arrange the award of the funds to the non-profit, the consultant allegedly agreed to forgive the debt owed by the campaign. According to the indictment, Fattah and his associates are said to have borrowed $1 million from a wealthy supporter.

The charges are the culmination of a long-running Federal Bureau of Investigation probe of Fattah, 58, who represents Philadelphia.

Prior to his time in Washington D.C., Fattah, born Arthur Davenport, was a member of the Pennsylvania Senate and, before that, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. After losing the election, Fattah reportedly returned $400,000 in unused campaign funds to the donor, then engaged in a series of maneuvers to repay the outstanding $600,000, including the misuse of federal grant funds. To hide the contribution and repayment scheme, the defendants and others allegedly created sham contracts and made false entries in accounting records, tax returns and campaign finance disclosure statements.

According to the indictment, the government alleges that Fattah was involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy that included bribery, the illegal use of campaign contributions and theft of charitable funds.

The indictment said Fattah founded a nonprofit called Educational Advancement Alliance in 1990 meant to provide “educational information and opportunities” to those in need – but also to “advance Fattah’s political stature”.