Chicago City Wire

A former employee of the Cook County Land Bank Authority, Mustafaa Saleh, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison on Friday for orchestrating a scheme that involved recruiting straw buyers to purchase and sell six Land Bank properties for his personal gain. Earlier this year, the 37-year-old Woodridge resident pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud related to the property scheme, which spanned five years — from 2016 to 2021 — during his tenure as an asset manager for the Land Bank.

The Land Bank's policy prohibits its employees from purchasing property from the agency unless it is intended for use as their primary residence.

Saleh was found guilty of recruiting "straw buyers" to acquire homes in Chicago, Midlothian and Oak Lawn that were subsequently redeveloped by a straw company owned by Saleh. In his role at the Land Bank, Saleh approved the renovation work, a prerequisite for selling the property. Upon sale of these properties by the straw buyers, Saleh received profits, according to an official press release.

In addition to this fraudulent property scheme, prosecutors stated that Saleh deceitfully obtained maintenance work from the Land Bank. In 2016, he founded Evergreen Property Services, a property maintenance company and had someone else pose as its owner. Over the following three years, despite regulations prohibiting Land Bank employees from having financial interests in companies contracting with the agency, Evergreen Property Services received over $1 million from the Land Bank.

Established by the Cook County Board in 2013, the Land Bank was designed "to address the large inventory of vacant residential, industrial and commercial property." A 17-member board of directors governs what is described as "the largest land bank by geography in the country," appointed by Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle.

Operating independently, the Land Bank's mission is "to acquire, hold and transfer interest in real property throughout Cook County to: promote redevelopment and reuse of vacant, abandoned, foreclosed or tax-delinquent properties; support targeted efforts to stabilize neighborhoods; stimulate residential, commercial and industrial development - all in ways that are consistent with goals and priorities established by local government partners and other community stakeholders."

Earlier this year, as reported by the Chicago City Wire, the Land Bank discreetly published a summary report of a critical operational assessment. This report highlighted a lack of oversight, transparency and ethical controls within the agency during the period when Saleh was executing his scheme to profit from buying, rehabbing and controlling Land Bank properties despite rules prohibiting such actions. Read the whole report here.

Saleh's sentencing marks the latest event in a series of controversies that include the bribery indictments of former Alderwoman Carrie Austin and her then chief of staff Chester Wilson. In 2019, The Sun-Times reported an FBI raid on Austin's offices revealed that Wilson had donated a tax-delinquent building he owned to the Land Bank, which eliminated $200,000 in tax debt. The building was subsequently sold to a former business associate of Wilson for $40,000.