WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the District of Columbia Council was charged Wednesday with lying about his income on loan applications, becoming the second person on the panel in the last six months to face accusations of criminal wrongdoing.
Kwame R. Brown was charged with a single count of bank fraud. Federal prosecutors charged him in a criminal information, a document that generally signals that a defendant plans to plead guilty.
Brown’s lawyer, Frederick Cooke, did not return calls seeking comment, and the U.S. Attorney’s office said it would have no comment.
Court papers say Brown misstated his income by tens of thousands of dollars when applying for a home equity loan in 2005. Federal authorities had also been investigating his 2008 campaign for financial improprieties, but the charging documents don’t allege any wrongdoing there.
The charges come six months after then-Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty to stealing more than $350,000 in city finds. Thomas resigned after being charged. They also come as federal prosecutors continue to investigate the 2010 campaign of Mayor Vincent Gray, who preceded Gray as council chairman.
