Rev. Wright’s Daughter Faces Federal Fraud Charges

The daughter of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Barack Obama’s controversial former pastor, was named in a federal indictment Wednesday on charges of money laundering, along with lying to federal officers and a grand jury.

A Justice Department spokesperson said Jeri L. Wright, 47, who lives in Hazel Crest, a suburb of Chicago, is accused of being involved in a fraud scheme involving a $1.25 million state grant, reports NBC News. The scheme was allegedly led by a former suburban police chief and the chief’s husband, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois in Springfield.

Wright’s charges include two counts of money laundering, seven counts of giving false testimony to a grand jury, and two counts of making false statements to federal officers.

The grant money was for a not-for-profit work and education program, We Are Our Brother’s Keeper, which is operated and owned by Regina Evans, a former police chief of Country Club Hills, Ill., and her husband, Ronald Evans Jr., a close friends of Wright’s.

Federal authorities said in 2009, Wright received from the grant three checks, worth about $28,000, which were supposed to be for work related to the grant. However, about $20,000 of the money was allegedly put back into accounts controlled by the Evanses, the indictment says.

Wright could face up to 20 years in prison on the money laundering count, and up to five years behind bars for the other charges.