Pastor Jeremiah's Daughter Indicted on Fraud and Money Laundering Charges
President Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright may have ruffled some feathers with his radical preaching style but his daughter seems to be hitting the news as well in a different way.
The 47 year old Jeri Wright of Hazel Crest, was charged with:
- two counts of money laundering
- two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement officers
- and seven counts of giving false testimony before a grand jury.
Chicago Sun Times reported:
A federal grand jury handed down the multi-pronged indictments Wednesday that accused Jeri Wright of engaging in a series of bank transactions in November 2009 in which she cashed more than $27,800 in checks drawn from the bank account of a non-profit the Evans controlled and from which the state funds had been deposited.
The indictment described Jeri Wright as a “close friend and associate” of Evans and her husband, Ronald W. Evans, Jr.
With that cash in hand, Jeri Wright then allegedly deposited $19,888 of that total into the personal bank account belonging to Evans and her husband, “knowing that the property involved in the financial transaction represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity,” the indictment alleged.
When interviewed by federal investigators in August and October of 2012 and again before a federal grand jury, Jeri Wright “did knowingly make false statements” about where those state funds eventually wound up, the indictment alleged.
Rather than depositing the money into the Evans’ personal bank account, Jeri Wright claimed the funds represented several months of salary she was owed from working for the Evans’ state-funded non-profit, We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, and that those dollars were used to pay her mortgage and car loan, the indictment alleged.
There were three indictments returned by a grand jury last week which includes Jeri Wright’s indictment. The grand jury has been investigating the Evans for allegedly skimming off more than half of the $1.25 million in state grant funds that were to have been used as part of the rehab of the Regal Theater on the South Side, the report says.
The Evans were hit with a superseding indictment alleging three counts of wire fraud, seven counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Read more on this case at Chicago Sun Times
