Oct. 02--The former finance director for an Islamic school and mosque who embezzled $450,000 was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison by a DuPage County judge who told him the remedy to unhappy employment was quitting, not stealing.
Inam Rahim, 61, of Naperville, was led from the courtroom in handcuffs after Judge John Kinsella imposed the sentence, as Rahim's wife and daughters broke down in tears.
The former director of finance for the Islamic Foundation of Villa Park pleaded guilty earlier this year to diverting funds from the organization by placing his wife on the group's payroll and writing foundation checks to a shell corporation that he had created. His wife was not charged.
The thefts took place between 2009 and 2011, when Rahim was terminated from the foundation for unrelated reasons. He was charged in 2012 after an audit uncovered irregularities.
During the investigation, Rahim had told police that he felt overworked at the foundation, where he had worked for about 12 years and earned about $70,000 annually. Kinsella suggested that Rahim should have chosen a different option than theft.
"He should have simply quit if he felt underpaid and underappreciated and found other work," the judge said at the sentencing.
At the conclusion of Wednesday's hearing, Rahim expressed remorse and said he had spent the money on family expenses and helping extended family in his native Pakistan.
Kinsella said it did appear that Rahim had not spent the funds he stole on a lavish lifestyle, but the lack of funds hampered the charitable mission of the foundation.
"Four-hundred fifty-thousand (dollars) over three years is a significant amount of money, and it caused significant harm," the judge said.
Prosecutors asked for an 11-year prison term, but Kinsella dismissed that figure as too high for Rahim, who he said had no prior record and had led an exemplary life until the thefts began.
On the other hand, the judge said, he could not impose the sentence of probation sought by Rahim's attorneys, saying the amount stolen was too great to qualify for a noncustodial sentence. Rahim faced a maximum of 15 years in prison on the theft count.
As part of the sentence, Rahim was ordered to repay $450,000 to the foundation. His attorneys said Wednesday that the Rahims are selling their Naperville residence to help make restitution.
With day-for-day credit, he could be released from prison in about 30 months.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
