Lawsuit accuses 'Windy City Rehab' stars of fraud

Posted June 17, 2020 1:00 am

Chicago Sun-Times

A North suburban man and his family who say they invested $3 million in projects featured on the HGTV reality series "Windy City Rehab" are suing stars Alison Victoria Gramenos and Donovan Eckhardt, accusing them of running "a deliberate and fraudulent scheme to misappropriate funds."

The lawsuit also accuses the stars of the show featuring Chicago homes being rehabbed and flipped of "bungling" and gross mismanagement of "nearly every project they were associated with" and Eckhardt of falsely claiming close ties with the Chicago city buildings department.

And it challenges efforts by Gramenos, who grew up in Lincolnwood and goes by Alison Victoria on TV, to lay blame for the problems on Eckhardt, saying, "Alison has claimed that she was caught unawares by Donovan's fraud - notwithstanding her own secreting of funds from closing proceeds."

The suit was filed Tuesday in Cook County circuit court by Michael Ward Jr. - a Lake County resident and onetime friend of Eckhardt - his brother Thomas Ward, also of Lake County, and their father Michael Ward Sr., a Cook County resident.

Eckhardt didn't respond to efforts to reach him.

For the full report, visit chicago.suntimes.com.

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