Harrah's sues Fattah Jr. for $16K in bounced checks

A BANK, city tax collectors and the FBI have all come calling for Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr. this year, and now Harrah's casino in Chester is looking for him, too.

According to a complaint filed Monday in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, Harrah's is seeking to recoup a $16,000 line of credit it extended in April to Fattah - the son of U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah - and $917.92 in interest. Two months after getting the line of credit, Fattah repaid the casino, but his checks bounced, according to the complaint.

In his credit application, Fattah said his income was "300K" at his company, 259 Strategies LLC, where he listed his occupation as a "management consultant." In February, the FBI raided his home and the offices of 259 Strategies, leaving with boxfuls of documents.

The Inquirer, citing sources, said that the FBI investigation centered on $450,000 in payments Fattah allegedly received from an education firm that had gotten Philadelphia School District contracts. Neither Fattah nor his attorney could be reached for comment. An FBI spokesman did not return requests for comment.

Fattah, a Drexel University graduate, has also been hit with a tax lien and lawsuits by several banks over unpaid loans. The suit filed by Harrah's on Monday does not detail how Fattah used the line of credit at the casino. A spokeswoman for Harrah's declined to elaborate. According to the court docket, the complaint was scheduled for an arbitration hearing next year.