Lawmaker from Chicago indicted on bank fraud charges

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, D-Chicago, shares a laugh with a colleague on the House Chamber floor at the Capitol Building in Springfield, Ill. on Feb. 7, 2012. (Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune / February 7, 2012)

Staff report

3:04 p.m. CST, November 29, 2012

A state legislator from Chicago was indicted Thursday on federal charges he made false statements to a bank to obtain a $500,000 increase on a line of credit.

LaShawn K. Ford, 40, was charged with using the money to pay for personal expenses rather than to rehab properties in the city as he had claimed he would to the bank, prosecutors said.

Ford was first elected in 2006 to represent the 8^th House District on Chicago’s West Side and several western suburbs.

The charges allege that Ford fraudulently obtained $373,500 in advances from the line of credit to rehabilitate six real estate properties on the West Side. But he used part of that money to pay off car loans, credit cards, mortgages, casino debts and expenses for his 2006 campaign, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Ford submitted false tax returns that inflated his personal and business income to increase the line of credit to $1.5 million at ShoreBank.

Ford’s state biography lists him as a real estate entrepreneur and founder of Ford Desired Realty Inc.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

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