Block 37 developer Larry Freed pleads innocent to fraud charges
Pedestrians pass Block 37, the shopping center at 108 N. State St. in the Loop. (Antonio Perez, Tribune / March 22, 2011)
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Real estate developer Larry Freed and a business associate each pleaded innocent Thursday to federal charges that they defrauded banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans tied to the redevelopment of the former Goldblatt’s department store on Chicago’s North Side.
Freed and Caroline Walters, a vice president and treasurer of Joseph Freed and Associates, were arraigned in federal court. They remain free on their own recognizance since their indictment on Dec. 12.
Freed is best known for developing the shopping mall on Block 37 in the Loop. But Freed lost control of the mall after his real estate firm defaulted on a $205 million construction loan.
The fraud charges involve $6.7 million in tax increment financing Freed received from the city of Chicago in 2002 for the Goldblatt’s project. The indictment alleges that he and Walters concealed from banks that they used the TIF as collateral for two separate loans at a time when the real estate firm was having financial problems. The 14-count indictment also alleges that they lied to the city to obtain TIF payments that should have gone to his lenders.
asachdev@tribune.com
Freed and Caroline Walters, a vice president and treasurer of Joseph Freed and Associates, were arraigned in federal court. They remain free on their own recognizance since their indictment on Dec. 12.
Freed is best known for developing the shopping mall on Block 37 in the Loop. But Freed lost control of the mall after his real estate firm defaulted on a $205 million construction loan.
The fraud charges involve $6.7 million in tax increment financing Freed received from the city of Chicago in 2002 for the Goldblatt’s project. The indictment alleges that he and Walters concealed from banks that they used the TIF as collateral for two separate loans at a time when the real estate firm was having financial problems. The 14-count indictment also alleges that they lied to the city to obtain TIF payments that should have gone to his lenders.
asachdev@tribune.com
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