A Chicago cop is under investigation by police officials over his ties to accused extortionist Jawad Fakroune, a convicted felon and Moroccan national who authorities say posed as a relative of the drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Fakroune was arrested in January, charged with using threats and violence to shake down the owner of a Lincoln Park restaurant for $1.5 million he said he was owed.
This month, the officer’s connection to Fakroune surfaced in a court filing in which federal prosecutors asked a judge to keep Fakroune in jail until his trial because they say he’s dangerous and a flight risk.
According to prosecutors, the officer told the FBI he left guns at a home of Fakroune in the Chicago area. The officer said Fakroune failed to return the guns, which prosecutors said were later seized on Dec. 18 in an FBI raid of a home where Fakroune was staying in Manhattan.
They said the officer reported the guns stolen, but some information in his report was false.
The narrative about the officer and the guns shows Fakroune “lied to law enforcement officials during his video and audio recorded post-arrest interview on Jan. 18, 2025, about possessing the seized firearms,” according to prosecutors.
The government’s court filing didn’t disclose the officer’s profession, identifying him only as “Individual A.” But Fakroune’s lawyer, Damon Cheronis, in a subsequent court filing, said Individual A is a Chicago cop.
Cheronis didn’t name the officer, whom he portrayed as a drunk and liar.
“Individual A, a Chicago Police Officer, sat down for a proffer, told the government that he reported the guns stolen, but failed to disclose that the police report he filed included lies,” Cheronis wrote. “Then, his attorney called to notify the government that his client, Individual A, lied in the initial proffer, and that the police report may contain ‘inconsistencies’ with what he had told the FBI.
“Next, Individual A is an admitted heavy drinker who, regarding the ‘firearms,’ walked into a police station and filed a false police report claiming the guns were stolen. This should give the Court pause in relying on anything proffered by the government as it relates to Individual A.
“The same holds true for his claims that he has ‘seen’ firearms in drawers at Mr. Fakroune’s properties and that he saw Mr. Fakroune strike someone in the middle of a restaurant.”
Besides his relationship with Fakroune, the cop also knew the restaurant owner Fakroune allegedly extorted, according to court records. Prosecutors haven’t identified the owner or his Lincoln Park restaurant.
Fakroune is accused of punching the man at his restaurant on Nov. 21 and threatening to kill him and his family if he didn’t pay $1.5 million. Cheronis says the men were business partners.
In his court filing, Cheronis disputed additional accusations that prosecutors have made against his client, writing: “Numerous other individuals make claims about seeing Mr. Fakroune with guns, hearing him be verbally abusive, punching strippers, breaking a man’s back, etc. To the extent any of this is true, you would expect one arrest, yet there are none. Moreover, if it is true that Mr. Fakroune claimed to be Pablo Escobar’s son (another claim they have already made), this is not a reason to find him a present danger to the community.”
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said an investigation was opened into the unidentified officer’s involvement with Fakroune but wouldn’t elaborate.
“There is an open log on this matter so we have no further information to provide,” the spokesperson said.
Prosecutors say Fakroune is a flight risk. They have pointed to numerous fake IDs and $191,000 in cash the FBI found in the New York home that was raided. They also note that Fakroune was on the lam from the time of the raid on Dec. 18 until his capture a month later in Michigan City, Indiana.
But Cheronis said the judge in the case could set conditions that would keep Fakroune from fleeing. He asked that his client be freed, and allowed to wait for trial in his home so he can better review the “voluminous” documents in his case. That request is pending.
Cheronis and Fakroune didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In April, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Lisa Duarte, a high-profile lobbyist and a former top aide to Gov. JB Pritzker, was cooperating with investigators in Fakroune’s case. She had paid the property taxes for Fakroune’s home in Lemont, records show.
Duarte’s lawyer said she isn’t accused of wrongdoing. Duarte said in April, “I believe I’m a small sliver in a long trail of victims.”