Accountant Who Defrauded Millions From Winnetka Family Sentenced

CHICAGO — The longtime accountant of a wealthy Winnetka family was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for misappropriating more than $77 million, records show.

Sultan Issa, 47, of Hinsdale, was sentenced Monday to 200 months in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $72 million in restitution to those he defrauded. Federal sentencing guidelines called for a sentence between 19 and 25 years in prison, according to memos from federal prosecutors and Issa's defense attorneys.

Issa began to feel "burnt out" and increasingly depressed after a working as an accountant for a decade, according to his lawyers. He bought some Chicago area Cold Stone Creamery franchises and tried to operate them, they alleged in their sentencing memo, but he failed, and that made him more depressed.

Starting in 2007, Issa began working for the Weston family. Roger Weston, of Winnetka, is the retired CEO of GreatBanc and now runs the Weston Foundation. A noted collector of East Asian art, Weston is a life trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, where a gallery that opened in 2010 bears his name.

The art collection played a role in Issa's fraud, according to Weston's attorneys. Issa faked Weston's signature to secure a $5 million loan using some of Weston's collection of antique Chinese lacquerware.

Issa, a certified public accountant, became the chief financial officer of a group of trusts, partnerships and corporations owned by the Weston Family, according to civil and criminal court records.

Not only did he embezzle tens of millions from their accounts — including a trust fund set up to cover medical expenses for Weston's incapacitated mother — he defrauded individuals out of millions more by claiming he would invest their money in a defunct Burr Ridge used car dealership, and secured fraudulent loans from banks, according to charges Issa admitted to.

"For the next seven years, he stole more and more money, obsessively purchasing real estate, cars, planes, boats, and luxury items. There are no words to explain his conduct with any level of logic or reasoning," said Daniel Collins, Issa's attorney, arguing for a shorter sentence. "As laid out in the plea agreement, Sultan stole from others besides his employer and lied to banks to obtain more and more material possessions. He repeatedly stole in order to buy things to try to make himself feel like he was a success. He irreparably harmed nearly everyone around him. The terrible, criminal decisions that he made over these years will haunt him for the rest of his life."

Issa admitted embezzling a total of $45 million from the family, more than $5 million from other individuals and securing at least $83 million in fraudulent loans from banks. Prosecutors explained he used that to buy two private aircraft, four yachts, 25 homes in Illinois, Montana, Michigan, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, about 60 guns and various pieces of expensive jewelry and memorabilia.

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"Unfortunately, Issa did not limit his relentless plundering to the [Weston] Family Office. Instead, he ruthlessly manipulated relationships in every sphere of his life. Without hesitation, he victimized family members, neighbors, and even his son's baseball coach," according to Assistant United States Attorney Philip Fluhr, who argued for a sentence within the federal guidelines, citing his dozens of victims. "Virtually anyone who came into contact with Issa was a potential mark for his financial treachery."

To hide the fraud scheme, Issa made Ponzi-style payments to investors, created false account statements, forged authorizations and faked documents that he submitted to banks, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

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Arguing for a shorter prison sentence than federal guidelines advise, Issa's attorney said his client needed a second chance to have any hope to be able to pay back the money he now owes.

"If released from custody at the age of 66, he would lose all ability to remain employed and would have no chance to work towards providing restitution to his victims," Collins said. "And, [Issa] clearly needs to continue his treatment for mental illness."