Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the agency conducted “court-authorized law enforcement activities” near Dolton Village Hall on Friday.
According to an FBI spokesperson, the Justice Department prohibits the FBI from commenting on any ongoing investigations, but its presence comes amid widespread controversy surrounding village leaders.
Earlier this week, several high-ranking officials in south suburban Dolton were named in a number of lawsuits and investigations.
Federal prosecutors have accused Keith Freeman, who currently serves as Dolton village trustee and Thornton Township township manager, of making false statements in his bankruptcy filing.
According to the indictment, Freeman filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Jan. 3 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. The request included a document in which the debtor is required to identify, among other things, all his assets and sources of income, as well as any claims against him.
The indictment alleges that Freeman made several materially false statements and omissions in the document, including knowingly underreporting his income from his employment as Dolton Village Trustee and Township Manager of the township of Thornton, as well as the fees he received from his staff. Consulting company.
Freeman also allegedly concealed that the Village of Robbins had filed a claim against him regarding approximately $90,396 that Freeman received in excess of his authorized salary while he was a Village of Robbins trustee, a position he held from 2017 to 2021.
Freeman also provided the Chapter 7 Trustee with a purported copy of his 2022 individual income tax return, which indicated that Freeman’s total employment income was $45,186.
The indictment says Freeman knew he had not filed a tax return for that year and that his actual income, which included a $100,000 salary for Dolton’s position alone, far exceeded this amount.
It was further part of the alleged scheme that on January 30, 2024, while testifying under oath at a meeting of creditors, Freeman falsely represented that he was not an employee of Dolton and that he did not had not received payment from Dolton, the indictment states. .
The following month, Freeman allegedly had his salary from Dolton directly deposited into a newly opened bank account that he had not disclosed to creditors or the Chapter 7 trustee.
Freeman has not been brought to justice. The village declined to comment.
This latest legal issue comes days after a civil suit was filed against Mayor Tiffany Henyard and Trustee Andrew Holmes, who is a well-known community activist. The complaint was filed by the mayor’s former aide and a Dolton police officer.
The lawsuit accuses Holmes of battery and Henyard of retaliation.
The incidents allegedly occurred during and after an economic development trip to Las Vegas last May. An attorney for Holmes told us he had no comment on the lawsuit..
In a statement, the village told NBC Chicago that “this is just two disgruntled village employees trying to abscond with the taxpayers’ hard-earned money.” The Village looks forward to defending these allegations and pursuing all other remedies available to the Village.”
A few days ago, four Dolton administrators named Lori Lightfoot, a former Chicago mayor and former federal prosecutor, as a special investigator to look into the Vegas trip and allegations of embezzlement and improper spending by the mayor .
But the village attorney wrote in a letter, “the trustees have absolutely no authority to appoint Lightfoot as additional legislative counsel.” It goes on to say that “the mayor will not approve any payments to Lightfoot because his appointment violates the law.”
NBC Chicago
