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Caroline Walters Pleads Guilty to Lying to Lender
CHICAGO, IL – CAROLINE WALTERS, the 55-year-old vice president and treasurer of Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution. Walters admitted to lying to Cole Taylor Bank about a public financing note that was issued for the redevelopment of a former Goldblatt’s Department Store in the city’s Uptown neighborhood.
According to the plea agreement, Walters falsely told Cole Taylor that her company would resolve the other pledge, which had been made to a bank consortium after Cole Taylor’s interest in the note was already secured. At the time Walters made the statement, she knew that the bank consortium had declared JFA to be in default and was no longer negotiating with them.
The city of Chicago issued two publicly-financed Tax Increment Financing notes to Uptown Goldblatts Venture LLC, a company formed by JFA to redevelop the former Goldblatt’s Department Store in Uptown, in 2002. The TIF notes had a combined principal of $6.7 million. Uptown Goldblatts then secured a $15 million loan from Cole Taylor, conditioned on Uptown Goldblatts’ assignment to Cole Taylor of its rights to one of the TIF notes.
Walters faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1,000,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater. U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 10, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.
The guilty plea was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Joseph M. Ferguson, Inspector General for the City of Chicago.
Walters was indicted in 2013 along with JFA’s president, LAURANCE H. FREED. Freed, of Chicago, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of bank fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, and six counts of making a false statement to a financial institution. His jury trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 8, 2016, in Judge Dow’s courtroom.
The defendant, CAROLINE WALTERS, is a resident of Palatine, IL.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Renato Mariotti, Matthew F. Madden and Jessica Romero.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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