In Chicago — In January of this year, a veteran con artist, according to prosecutors, conned two sisters out of nearly $70,000 by pretending to be from a charity affiliated with Chance the Rapper and offering to help with bill payments.
However, authorities insist that DeMarco Franklin does not know Chance the Rapper. He has also never had any hand in running CEDA, a nonprofit that does assist low-income individuals in paying their utility bills.
After hearing the accusations against Franklin on Wednesday afternoon, Judge Barbara Dawkins said, “Sometimes non-violent offences are just as bad or worse than violent offences, and I would submit this is one of those times.”
In the spring of 2016, CBS Chicago spoke with the sisters who claim Franklin harassed them. In November, Chicago police issued a warning that the same scheme had been used to defraud other victims between February 2021 and March of last year, and possibly at other times as well.
Prosecutor Tom Simpson claims that on January 25, 2022, Franklin approached a woman outside a Bank of America branch on Chicago’s South Side and offered to pay some of her bills through a charitable programme. Franklin allegedly made a phone call to a woman under a fictitious name, urging her to take advantage of a “time-sensitive” offer by paying her phone bill.
She then allegedly handed the phone to Franklin, who provided the company’s payment information after dialling 611 to reach her carrier, as stated by Simpson. A receipt for her phone bill payment arrived at the woman’s door in short order.
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When Franklin asked if there were any major bills she needed help with, the woman connected him with her mortgage lender. Franklin supposedly paid off the woman’s bill, and she received confirmation of the payment almost immediately.
Franklin then asked the lady if she might be interested in making a donation to the organisation so that it could continue its good work. According to Simpson, he suggested a donation of $9,200 and the woman complied by withdrawing the specified amount from the bank and handing it over to him. As time went on, he continued to make phoney payments and eventually “donated” another $9,400 to her cause.
Franklin called the woman two days after their first encounter to make sure she received all of the money he had promised to pay her. Franklin told her the charity had received additional funding for a limited time after she verified that they had been paid, and the woman suggested that her sister could benefit from the services, according to Simpson.
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Later That Afternoon, The Sisters And Franklin Met In A Chase Bank On The South Side
According to Simpson, Franklin pretended to pay off the second woman’s mortgage and a Small Business Administration loan, suggesting that he had done so in a previous scam. He allegedly “collected” $50,500 from her as a “donation” to the organisation.
Within a matter of days, Simpson claims, both women had received notifications from all of the creditors that the payments Franklin had allegedly made had failed to process.
Franklin’s phone calls to various banks, where he purportedly made the fraudulent payments, were also recorded. Simpson claims Franklin pulled the same CEDA-related con in 2008, minus Chance the Rapper.
An assistant public defender has testified that Franklin is the primary carer for four kids. According to her, he is a devout Christian who works as a painter and drywaller full-time.
Final words
Franklin then encouraged the lady to give to the organisation so that it could continue its good work. After Simpson suggested a donation of $9,200, the woman withdrew the money from the bank and handed it to him, he said. He continued to make phoney transactions with the woman and eventually “donated” another $9,400.
Franklin called the woman two days after their initial encounter to verify that all of the promised payments had been made. Franklin told the woman that the charity had received additional funding for a limited time after she confirmed that they were paid, and the woman suggested that her sister might benefit from the services, Simpson said.
