Suburban investor charged with bank fraud

A suburban investor who owns the Rolling Meadows Wal-Mart and former Sam's Club, among other holdings, has been charged with bank fraud in federal court.

The defendant, Gus Dahleh, will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Aug. 24 on a charge that he was involved in a mortgage scam while at his Elmhurst-based business, Mortgage Direct Inc., in 2006 and 2007.

The criminal complaint, which was originally filed on July 6, alleges that Dahleh "fraudulently caused financial institutions to make mortgage loans by making and causing to be made materially false representations about the borrowers' income, employments and assets."

The complaint also says Dahleh "falsified verification of deposit forms before providing the forms to lenders by changing the numbers on the forms and replacing them with higher numbers so that the loan applications would be approved by the lenders."

The scheme caused Washington Mutual Bank to refinance a mortgage loan in the amount of $188,0000 for a property in Yorkville, according to the documents.

Dahleh faces a maximum of 30 years in prison or $1 million fine if convicted, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Madden, who is prosecuting the case.

In 2015, Dahleh purchased the Wal-Mart and former Sam's Club along Golf Road in Rolling Meadows for $24 million and said he planned to reopen the Sam's Club, though the company has not yet confirmed those plans. The Wal-Mart recently went through a major renovation.

He also owns the Chase Bank Building in downtown Mount Prospect, a six-story, 97,000-square-foot building that he said he wanted to turn into an office center for technology companies.

Federal records show several civil and bankruptcy cases have been filed over the past decade involving Dahleh, his brother and business partner, Sam Dahleh, and their mortgage business.

Dahleh declined to comment on the charges.