Three indictments returned today by the grand jury in Springfield, Ill., collectively broaden allegations of fraud related to a $1.25 million state grant awarded in 2009 to We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, a not-for-profit program owned by Regina R. Evans, former police chief for Country Club Hills, Ill., and her husband, Ronald W. Evans, Jr., also formerly employed with the Country Club Hills Police Department. The grant agreement provided for an estimated 40 participants to receive bricklaying and electrical pre-apprenticeship training and GED preparation, at the Regal Theater, another entity owned by the Evanses.
Regina, 50, and her husband, Ronald Evans, 45, are charged in a third superseding indictment with fraudulent use of grant funds, specifically wire fraud (three counts), money laundering (seven counts each), and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering (one count). According to the indictment, at the time of the alleged fraud, from February 2009 to June 2010, Regina and Ronald Evans owned various for-profit and not-for-profit entities, including the Prime Time Group, Inc., the Regal Theater, LLC., and We Are Our Brother’s Keeper (WAOBK.) In February 2009, on behalf of WAOBK, Evans and her husband applied for grant funding offered under the Employment Opportunities Grant Program and administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO.) In September 2009, DCEO disbursed the $1,250,000 award for the two-year period, beginning on June 1, 2009, and ending on May 31, 2011. In fact, the indictment alleges that little, if any, of the training provided in the grant agreement, was ever completed…
Another indictment returned today charges Jeri L. Wright, 47, of Hazel Crest, Ill., with money laundering (two counts), making false statements to federal law enforcement officers (two counts), and giving false testimony before a grand jury (seven counts), related to the investigation of the alleged fraudulent use of grant funds.
According to the indictment, Wright, a close friend and associate of the Evanses, allegedly received three checks in November 2009, totaling approximately $28,000, purporting to be for work related to the grant, and approximately $20,000 of the proceeds of the checks was allegedly deposited back into accounts controlled by the Evanses. The indictment further alleges that Wright made false statements to federal law enforcement officers when she was interviewed on various occasions in 2012, and that on Nov. 7, 2012, Wright made materially false statements to the grand jury.
DOJ press release link: click here
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