Prosecution witness lashes out at Chaka Fattah Jr. in court

Oct. 22--CHAKA FATTAH JR. was cross-examining a witness who eight years ago had sought out his business, when the man blurted out:

"You stole $10,000 from me when I was in high school! Can I have my money back?"

Fattah, 32, defending himself in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on 23 counts of bank- and tax-fraud charges, ignored Kevin Corrigan's angry outburst yesterday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Gray had called Corrigan, 27, to testify about his attempts to get a highly sought-after American Express card through Fattah's American Royalty company.

Corrigan said he found the company online promoting itself as a high-end concierge service offering clients luxury travel and other services.

"How old were you in 2007?" Gray asked Corrigan.

"I had turned 18," Corrigan said. He called himself naive to want the American Express Centurion Card, known as the "Black Card."

"I thought I needed to have this prestige," he said.

After emailing and talking with Fattah, Corrigan said, he wired $10,000 for the card.

"Did you get the Black Card?" Gray asked.

"No," Corrigan said. He told the court he tried for eight to nine months to get his $10,000 back, but didn't get it.

Then Fattah asked whether Corrigan had wired the $10,000 to the wrong bank account.

Corrigan told the court that he was frustrated because bank officials wouldn't believe his word over that of a congressman's son.

Federal prosecutors also called on a man from Las Vegas to testify that he had paid Fattah $5,000 for a Black Card, but never got it.

Ultimately, the witness said, American Express -- not Fattah -- refunded the money.

Another witness, Ian Peck, who said he works with Art Capital Group in New York, testified that he also paid Fattah $5,000 for a Black Card. Fattah asked Peck if he had gone through Fattah because he didn't want to undergo a credit check.

"Did you open an Ameriprise account with a half-million dollars?" Fattah asked, referring to the financial-planning firm.

Peck said he couldn't recall the amount.

After court yesterday, Fattah said: "These people are upset, yes. But we were charging people to try to make impossible things happen."

Earlier, Amanda Dana, a sales-operations manager at the Capital Grille restaurant at Broad and Chestnut streets in Center City, testified that she saw Fattah in the restaurant twice a day in 2006.

She said that Fattah ran up a bill of $15,000 and told her he was bringing clients in for business meetings. But she said she was surprised one night to see him at a table with a group of men including a former employee who had worked there clearing dirty dishes from tables.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Gibson asked if the restaurant still has a "house account" enabling customers to pay a tab monthly. Dana said it was largely discontinued after one customer defaulted on a $15,000 bill.

"Do you see that customer in court today?" Gibson asked. Yes, Dana said: It was Fattah.

Fattah asked Dana if she ever saw media reports that the Capital Grille bill was paid in 2007.

"Absolutely not," Dana said.

"Am I banned from the Capital Grille?" he asked.

"If I was in the restaurant and I saw you come in, I would ask you to leave," Dana said.

Later, Fattah said it was widely reported that his attorney had helped him settle the $15,000 bill.

But Dana told the court that the managers considered it a loss. A police report was filed.

The court also heard tape-recorded telephone calls between Fattah and Michael Moffa, an investigator with the Small Business Administration.

Fattah told Moffa that he wanted to pay his bills, but a client stopped paying and he no longer had revenue to pay debts including $115,000 in installment loans. Fattah was 28 at the time.

"I liked the tape," he said later. "I think it was a good day."

On Twitter: @ValerieRussDN

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