A man has been indicted on extortion charges after allegedly assaulting and threatening a Lincoln Park restaurateur who he claimed owed him a debt.
Jawad Fakroune, 45, lent the business owner about $405,000 in 2023 and 2024 to start a new restaurant in Lincoln Park, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Illinois.
The restaurateur had repaid about $160,000 of the loan by Nov. 25 last year. Fakroune confronted the owner that day at one of their restaurants and claimed he was still owed $1.5 million, prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint.
Fakroune “stalked” the owner through the restaurant and then choked, punched and kicked them while demanding payment, the complaint states. He also allegedly threatened the restaurateur and their family’s lives.
Fakroune is charged with three counts of extortion. He is due in court Wednesday.