Spotlight Politics: Austin Real Estate Deal Under Scrutiny


More details emerge about the investigation into 34th Ward Ald. Carrie Austin, as a former alderman is sentenced to one year in prison. Our politics team of Carol Marin, Paris Schutz and Amanda Vinicky takes on that and more in this edition of Spotlight Politics.


Speculation has gone wild since the very public federal raid of Ald. Carrie Austin’s 34th Ward office one week ago. Various reports indicate the feds are looking at, among other things, a real estate purchase Austin made from a developer that got TIF funding from the city.

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Documents show that Austin received an FHA loan in October 2018 in the amount of $231,353 for a property in a newly built development in her ward. Austin bought the property directly from the developer, JTA Development, right after the company received public subsidies to build on the land. Austin maintains that she has done nothing wrong, and U.S. attorney’s office has offered no comment.

This comes as 20th Ward Ald. Willie Cochran is sentenced to one year in prison for using money in a ward charity fund for personal purchases. Cochran becomes the third 20th Ward alderman to go to prison.

Follow us on Twitter: @wttw @paschutz @CarolMarin | @AmandaVinicky


Related stories:

FBI Raids 34th Ward Office of Ald. Carrie Austin

Spotlight Politics: Feds Raid Another Longtime Alderman’s Office

The Week in Review: Another Alderman in FBI Crosshairs


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