A veteran Pennsylvania congressman was convicted Tuesday in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan.
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah was found guilty of all counts against him, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering. His lawyers had argued that the schemes were engineered without Fattah’s knowledge by two political consultants who pleaded guilty in the case.
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The nation’s chief law against racketeering applies to some activities outside of the United States, but private plaintiffs must claim a domestic injury, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in a closely watched business case involving a major American cigarette and food producer.
In RJR Nabisco v. The European Community, the justices said the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act applies to “some” foreign activity, if the offenses violated another law that applied extraterritorially.
Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow said he was a reformed Chinatown gangster, but the jury in his federal trial didn’t believe that and convicted him of murder and racketeering.
The trial took about two months, yet it only took the jury two and a half days of deliberations to reach a verdict. The U.S. attorney declined to comment, but it was a big win for them. Chow’s lawyers say they’ll appeal, especially since Chow, 56, faces mandatory life in prison.
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah Sr. and four associates on Wednesday were charged with racketeering in a 29-count indictment for their alleged involvement in several schemes that misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal, charitable and campaign funds.
Fattah, 58, who represents the 2nd Congressional District in Philadelphia, was allegedly involved in a conspiracy that was intended to further his political and financial interests as well as those of others.