Accused con artist using Chance the Rapper's name in scam is arrested after CBS 2 Investigation
CHICAGO (CBS) – For more than a year, a con artist has been using the name of a famous rapper from Chicago and the name of a popular charitable organization to scam people out of tens of thousands of dollars in cash.
On Tuesday, police arrested a man for crimes involving two victims.
Those victims are the Cole sisters. The CBS 2 Investigators first told you their story in April 2022.
THE SCAM
It all began when Lulu Cole was approached outside her bank on 83rd Street in January 2022 by a man who called himself Jeffrey Washington. He claimed he could pay her cell phone bill and then pay off her mortgage using money from the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA) through a partnership with Chance the Rapper.
Cole received payment confirmations from her cell phone company and her bank that the payments had posted. She said: "I couldn't believe it. I felt ecstatic."
She then told her sister about the man and his generosity. Ibi Cole was skeptical at first – but then allowed the man to pay off a few of her bills.
Confirmations came in immediately from financial institutions that payments had posted and statements showed balances had dropped.
The man convinced the sisters to hand over cash donations to him, as a way to pay the charitable work forward.
They did. Nearly $70,000 combined.
THE LONG WAIT FOR AN ARREST
It took only a few days to fall for the man's con, until the reversal notices rolled in and balances ballooned back to normal. But the sisters have been waiting nearly a year for an arrest. That finally came Tuesday.
"I was grateful he was apprehended," said Lulu Cole.
The arrest came in part, due to a photo snapped by Lulu the day she first met the stranger in her bank's parking lot.
That photo led authorities to the man now under arrest, facing several felony charges.
THE SUSPECT
The suspect has been identified as 35-year-old Demarco Franklin. The Cook County State's Attorney's Office, in a proffer provided in bond court, identifies Franklin as having multiple felony convictions in 2008 when he was sentenced to three years in an Illinois Department of Corrections prison.
In those prior convictions, he used the same scheme the Cole sisters claim he used on them.
The SAO says in Franklin's previous conviction he falsely represented himself as a charity representative where he got donations from victims after he convinced them he paid some of their bills.
CEDA says Franklin has never worked for them. No one named Jeffrey Washington has worked for CEDA either. The organization would never solicit funds from people in the way Franklin is accused of doing.
Franklin also has no relationship with Chance the Rapper.
Franklin now faces two felony counts of theft by deception, felony wire fraud, and a misdemeanor count of false impersonation of a charity. The most serious charge, theft by deception, carries a potential sentence of three to seven years in prison if Franklin is convicted.
He appeared in court Wednesday, where a $50,000 bond was set.
WHAT NEXT?
There could be more victims out there, according to a November 2022 Chicago Police community alert.
Ibi Cole also wants to see changes in the way notifications are sent about confirmations.
"I'd definitely love to see banks improve and increase their protections of their consumers.," she said. "I think that's really important."
One suggestion she has is to include and emphasize the word pending in payment confirmation notices.
In our previous reporting, the Consumer Federation of America was interested in working with financial institutions on making such a change.
