Some of the alleged fraudsters reportedly discussed the scams on prison phone calls.
Nation March 26, 2025
The Archdiocese of Chicago this week filed a lawsuit alleging a “racketeering enterprise” among a group of individuals who reportedly filed false abuse claims against a former priest to receive compensation from the Church there.
The archdiocese said in a Monday statement that it had filed a lawsuit in Cook County circuit court “seeking injunctive relief and damages from participants of a wide-ranging racketeering scheme” that reportedly involved “more than a dozen” fraudulent abuse claims against disgraced former priest Daniel McCormack, who spent more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to abusing young children.
Lawyers for the diocese did not respond to requests for comment and for a copy of the lawsuit on Wednesday morning. The diocese said in its press release that some of the participants in the alleged scheme are “convicted felons and known gang members,” including allegedly one convicted murderer.
The alleged fraudulent claimants are “associated by gang affiliation, friendship, or family,” the archdiocese said, with the conspirators reportedly working together to determine “what to say, how to pursue a false claim, how to embellish purported injuries, and how to reach attorneys.”
Some of the alleged fraudsters reportedly discussed the scams on prison phone calls. One of the defendants reportedly told a fellow conspirator that he did not go to...
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