Former CHA Official Indicted in Kickback Scheme

Former Chicago Housing Authority property director Ryan Ross and Vanessa Rhodes of Twenty Eleven Construction were charged in a federal indictment Tuesday with participating in a $4.8 million “kickback scheme.”

The indictment accuses Ross of using his position to “fraudulently” hand out contracts to Twenty Eleven Construction and a second Rhodes-affiliated company. Rhodes’ husband, unnamed in the indictment, falsely represented himself to other CHA property managers as an employee of the affiliated company that claimed they would complete work on CHA units. The indictment alleges Ross received more than $421,000.

Ross is also alleged to have submitted fake documents to the CHA, including proposals and invoices. He is said to have spent kickback money to pay for repairs and renovations on his own personal property, and buy himself a vehicle.

In total, Ross and Rhodes are charged with eight counts of honest services fraud. Every count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, and arraignments are yet to be scheduled.

“Ryan Ross and Vanessa Rhodes allegedly took advantage of a position of public trust to engage in a kickback scheme to enrich themselves,” Department of Housing and Urban Development’s special agent in charge Machelle Jindra said in a statement. “Their scheme corrupted the fair and competitive contracting process and undermined the confidence in the integrity of HUD-funded programs.”

Ross was fired from the CHA in 2024 for “breaking agency procedures,” according to Crain’s.

The indictment is the latest entry in a turbulent chapter in the CHA’s history. The entity is in the midst of a power struggle between interim CEO Matthew Brewer and Mayor Brandon Johnson over the future of the program’s executive board. The protracted fight has partially caused the CHA to go without a leader for over a year-and-a-half. The agency has an operating budget of $1.4 billion, and oversees upwards of 65,000 households.

— Hunter Cooke