Former vice chancellor for City Colleges charged in fraud scheme

CHICAGO - A former vice chancellor for the City Colleges of Chicago has been charged with getting kickbacks from vendors in exchange for steering them contracts.

Sharod Gordon, 45, of Oak Park, is charged with 16 counts of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Northern District of Illinois.

Prosecutors said associates of Gordon at City Colleges created vendor companies for the sole purpose of applying for the contracts. In some instances, the work was never done even though invoices were sent to City Colleges and paid for, prosecutors said.

When the vendors received the payments, some of the vendors gave a portion of the money to Gordon in the form of kickbacks, prosecutors said.

The federal government is seeking to obtain $349,500 of the alleged kickbacks from Gordon and her seven co-defendants. Their arraignments have not been scheduled.

Among the co-defendants is Angelique Orr, charged with five counts of wire fraud, prosecutors said. Orr was married to Gordon from 1998 to 2013.

Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.