Naperville Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing $500K from Islamic Religious Organization

Caption: Inam Rahim, 60, of Naperville, IL, pleaded guilty to stealing $500,000 from the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, IL.

A 60-year-old Naperville man has pleaded guilty to stealing $500,000 from an Islamic religious organization, the DuPage State’s Attorney’s Office announced.

Inam Rahim, of the 1700 block of Conan Doyle Road, entered a plea of guilty to one felony count of theft over $100,000 in front of Judge John Kinsella on Monday.

According to the charges, Rahim began working for the Islamic Foundation in Villa Parkin 1999, where he oversaw the religious organization’s finances in his role as the director of business and finance.

Prosecutors said that Fahim began padding his own payroll checks in May 2009, and also added his wife to the payroll, even though she did not work for the foundation.

He is also alleged to have issued expense checks for work never performed to a company that he owned, Right Enterprises, doing business as Yoomna’s Boutique, in Naperville.

The thefts continued until Rahim’s employment was terminated by the Islamic Foundation in June 2011, prosecutors said.

Rahim’s alleged scheme came to light when the foundation uncovered the discrepancies while conducting a payroll audit.

The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office filed felony theft charges against Rahim on April 30, 2012. He has been out on bond ever since.

“For more than two years, Inam Rahim used the bank accounts of the Islamic Foundation as his own personal piggy bank to the tune of more than half a million dollars,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement. “This afternoon, Mr. Rahim admitted his guilt. Because defendants in financial crimes are often times very familiar with their victim’s financial situation and have earned their trust, these types of crimes can be very difficult to uncover.”

Rahim’s next court appearance in on May 18, for a return of the pre-sentence report. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.