Summary: After years of investigations and associates of Fattah being charges, Fattah is finally hit with charges of racketeering, bribery, fraud and more.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa) is no longer the star he once was when he first came to Congress two decades ago as a next-generation reformer. Fattah was charged Wednesday racketeering a $1 million loan for his Philadelphia mayor campaign in 2007 that was unsuccessful.
Fattah was the senior member of the Appropriations Committee when the Justice Department charged him and four of his supporters with 29 counts of bank fraud, bribery, and other charges of corruption. The U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Zane David Memeger, alleges that Fattah misused campaign funds, misappropriated government funds, accepted bribes, and committed bank fraud.
Fattah has since stepped down from his position as the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee controlling the budgets of the FBI, U.S. attorney’s office, and Justice Department.
The investigation has been going on for several years with a number of Fattah’s associates like his son and a political consultant to his campaign facing charges or guilty pleas of their own. Fattah and his associates took a secret $1 million loan to help fund his mayoral campaign from a wealthy businessman. He then used federal grants to try to repay as much of the loan as he could. Fattah also is accused of trying to direct a federal grant to his creditor to pay a campaign debt.
When Tom Lindenfield, a political consultant was charged in November for conspiracy to commit fraud, Fattah stated that he had “never been involved in any illegal conduct or misappropriation of taxpayer funds.” However, many sources said that Fattah was the public official referred to in the charging documents.
The newest allegations against Fattah included a quid pro quo scheme with lobbyist Herbert Vederman. It is alleged that Fattah was going to exchange an ambassadorship or U.S. Trade Commission appointment to Vederman in return for $18,000 and other valuable items.
Other corrupt politicians:
Former Governor and First Lady Found Guilty of Corruption
Oregon Governor Hires Law Firm to Answer Corruption Inquiry
New York’s Corruption at “Unacceptable Levels”
Photo: philly.com