On March 11, 2004, Creamer, the executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund, was indicted in federal court on 16 counts of bank fraud involving three alleged check-kiting schemes in the mid-1990s, leading several banks to experience shortfalls of at least $2.3 million.[9] In August 2005, Creamer pleaded guilty to one count of failure to collect withholding tax and one count of bank fraud, for writing checks with insufficient funds. All of the money was repaid. Schakowsky was not accused of any wrongdoing,[10] although she served on the organization's board during the time the crimes occurred,[11] and signed the IRS filings along with her husband.[12] The U.S. district judge noted no one suffered "out of pocket losses," and Creamer acted not out of greed but in an effort to keep his community action group going without cutting programs, though Creamer paid his own $100,000 salary with fraudulently obtained funds.[13]
On April 5, 2006, Creamer was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months of house arrest.[14] Creamer served his five-month incarceration at the Federal Correction Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana and was released on November 3, 2006.
