Chaka Fattah, Jr. On Charges Against Him: 'It's A Political Thing'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall and Dom Giordano talked to Chaka Fattah, Jr., the son of Philadelphia Congressman Chaka Fattah, about his indictment on charges of fraud and tax evasion on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.
Fattah said he is surprised by the charges and the attention they've garnered in the media.
"It's a little surreal for me. In terms of why I talk about it; I don't think I've done anything wrong. I understand there are a lot of allegations…I haven't been convicted of anything. These are allegations in writing, all of which seem pretty ridiculous to me," he said.
Fattah feels federal authorities have political motivations in filing these charges against him and it is an example of the government abusing its power.
"The people involved in the investigation are, I think -- they're primarily interested in potentially getting a promotion. Things like that, things that have nothing to do with doing their job. It's a political thing…I really think it shows the individual Assistant U.S. Attorneys and, in some cases FBI Agents or IRS Agents, have really too much power over people's lives. These charges, this took two and a half years. This is a multi-million dollar investigation into my life," Fattah claimed.
Fattah does not believe the government has any real case against him.
"They're overreaching…They're talking primarily about some bank lines of credit from 2005. It's August 2014. They're essentially saying that over nine years ago, I came up with some kind of idea to cheat large corporations with multi-billion dollar budgets. It's ridiculous. PNC Bank for example, they just make a fortune, so the idea that I could cheat them by applying for a line of credit, that doesn't make any sense to me," he stated.