Feds pay visit to Fattah's son, lawyer

THE FBI has developed a keen interest in Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr., the 29-year-old son of the East Falls congressman, and his work for David Shulick, a politically connected attorney with lucrative Philadelphia School District contracts.

Investigators with subpoenas paid a surprise visit to Fattah Jr.'s home at the Ritz-Carlton early yesterday, then swung by Shulick's law firm, leaving with Fattah's computer and boxes of documents.

Just don't call it a raid.

"Don't you dare. If there is 'a raid' in the paper, I'm suing. You're not going to destroy this company," said Shulick, who described the FBI's visit as "a mutual exchange of information in a highly respectful manner."

Shulick, a major political donor who is seen on his website posing with President Obama and Gov. Corbett, is president of Delaware Valley High School, a for-profit alternative-education company that gets millions of dollars a year from the school district to run two schools, in East Falls and the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia.

The FBI declined to comment, but investigators appeared to be focusing on money paid to Fattah Jr., son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Fattah Jr., who has done work for DVHS and Shulick's law firm, owns 259 Strategies, a consulting firm that DVHS has paid $450,000, the Inquirer reported.

DVHS has a school-district contract worth $4.1 million this fiscal year, district spokesman Fernando Gallard said. Last year, the district paid DVHS about $4.5 million, he said.

"They are investigating City Council and certainly the Fattah organization and others," Shulick, who was interviewed by the FBI at his home, told the Daily News. "And they are investigating Chaka Fattah Jr., who happens to be an employee of ours."

Congressman Fattah has been a supporter of Shulick's schools. He wrote a letter to Philadelphia school administrators backing a proposal to send 100 students to a Shulick school in 2007, the Inquirer reported.

"Obviously, the congressman stands by his son. However, the congressman and our office have no involvement in this matter," Fattah spokesman Ron Goldwyn said. He declined to elaborate on Fattah's support for DVHS.

Shulick said that the FBI was "asking all kinds of questions about Chaka Fattah Jr. and money and what his roles were."

After hanging up on the Daily News, as reporters descended on his office, Shulick fired off an epic, 2,017-word email saying that Fattah Jr. is "being victimized merely because his last name is 'Fattah.' " Shulick said that all DVHS contracts were aboveboard and that he has "never achieved any pecuniary gain through any wrongful means."

Shulick later referred all calls to communications specialist Jeff Jubelirer, who acknowledged that the congressman has been "very helpful in writing letters and making calls and being a reference" for DVHS. But, Jubelirer said, DVHS doesn't receive federal funding.

Fattah Jr. did not return phone calls from the Daily News. Gallard declined to elaborate on the DVHS contracts.

Yesterday's actions prompted a game of "Who's the Target?" that reached from Logan Square to City Hall.

Shulick said that the FBI told him that he, his law firm and DVHS are not being targeted. He said that they mentioned Council members, though.

Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. said that the FBI called him yesterday morning to ask about his involvement in the relocation of a DVHS school to East Falls, which is in his district. But, Jones said, he is not the subject of the investigation.

"According to the FBI, I'm not the subject," said Jones, a close confidant and childhood friend of the congressman.

Jones said that the FBI asked if he knew about Shulick. "The question was [about] his ownership in the school," Jones said. "They ask you a question and you answer it."

Jones had opposed DVHS' move to East Falls in summer 2009 after neighbors raised concerns.

"Chip [Fattah Jr.] was brought on, as a part of his duties, to help establish the project," Jones said. "Even with his being brought on, my opinion didn't substantially change about the location of that project, which is it didn't belong there. They made the best out of a bad situation and they've been good neighbors since."

It is unclear exactly what Fattah Jr.'s position is at DVHS or Shulick's law firm.

Shulick said yesterday that Fattah Jr. works for the law firm, which represents DVHS. But at a York, Pa., school-board meeting less than two weeks ago, Fattah Jr. was described in the York Daily Record as DVHS' "business development director." He was there to pitch a school contract.

Shulick said that DVHS no longer has a contract with 259 Strategies but wouldn't disclose why.

Fattah Jr. previously ran American Royalty, a concierge service for wealthy clients. He told Philadelphia magazine in 2007 that his father hadn't used his influence to steer business to American Royalty.

"If people ask what I'm doing, I'm sure he tells them," Fattah said of his father. "But he's never directed anybody to me. He would never do anything like that."