Chicago not-for-profit CEO pleads guilty to fraud scheme
CHICAGO (AP) — The leader of a Chicago not-for-profit group has pleaded guilty to misusing more than $260,000 in state grant money intended to develop commercial properties and fund a job training program.
Yesse Yehudah, 73, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of wire fraud in federal court. Yehudah, who has already paid back $90,000, will have to pay back $170,000 under his plea, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 17 with federal prosecutors pushing for him to serve up to 33 months in prison.
Yehudah was initially charged in a 15-count federal indictment in 2020 that involved the not-for-profit Fulfilling Our Responsibilities Unto Mankind where he was the president and CEO.
The 14 other counts against Yehudah — who was from Chicago but now lives in Wisconsin — will be dropped at sentencing.
Prosecutors accused him of devising a scheme to cheat the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which had provided his organization with three grants that totaled $575,000.
The grant money was designated to help spur economic development in Dolton, a south Chicago suburb, and to create a jobs training program.
The grants had strict guidelines on how the money could be spent. Yehudah has admitted to submitting bogus documents like forging checks and falsifying invoices to make the work seem legitimate to the state commerce agency.
Prosecutors said he pocketed the money and even made a private loan to another individual.