FBI Investigates Chicago Builder Who Left Country; Possible Sham Sales Probed

In Chicago, Illinois, the Chicago Sun Times reports:

• A brash Chicago builder who returned home to Lithuania as unpaid debts accumulated here has drawn the interest of the FBI, two sources said. The sources said FBI agents are asking about the activities of Andrius Augunas, whose plans for remaking parts of the Near South Side ended in a tangle of liens and foreclosures.

• Augunas was the president of Rokas International Inc., which has ceased operations. The investigation apparently is connected to FBI probes into mortgage fraud and is looking at the possibility of "sham" sales of condominiums in Rokas projects.

• Plaintiffs in cases against him say the developer left for Lithuania earlier this year and has not been seen since. On April 29, he filed for personal bankruptcy protection under Chapter 7 of the code.

Among the creditors Augunas has reportedly stiffed include First DuPage Bank, which gave him three loans totaling $27.8 million for a condo building he never started.

For more, see FBI probing bankrupt developer ($79 MILLION IN DEBT - He fled U.S. after plan to remake Near South Side collapsed).

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