Frankfort Professor Indicted On Wire Fraud Charges: U.S. Attorney

FRANKFORT, IL — A college professor from Frankfort has been indicted on federal fraud charges alleging she embezzled more than $650,000 from a national student organization committed to improving minority representation in the pharmacy industry, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois. Carmita Coleman, 49, has been charged with four counts of wire fraud.

While serving as the volunteer executive director of the student association, Coleman withdrew cash and issued checks from the group’s bank accounts for her and her family’s personal benefit, according to an indictment returned Thursday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Coleman attempted to cover up her scheme by submitting false and misleading reports that concealed her withdrawals, the indictment states. When a new person was appointed to replace Coleman as executive director, Coleman knowingly delayed turning over access to the organization’s bank accounts so that she could continue spending the money for her personal benefit, the indictment states.

According to the Attorney's Office, the fraud scheme allegedly lasted from 2011 to 2016. Coleman, who separately during the scheme was a professor and interim dean at the Chicago State University College of Pharmacy, fraudulently misappropriated approximately $651,272 from the student association, the indictment states.

Coleman's arraignment in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.