Feds to Seize Convicted Fraudster Rishi Shah’s Chicago Mansion

Federal authorities will seize the $8 million Near North Side mansion of Outcome Health founder Rishi Shah, following his conviction on multiple counts of fraud and sentencing to 7.5 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin recently ruled that the United States Marshals Service, FBI or other authorized law enforcement agencies will take control of the property at 924 North Clark Street as part of Shah’s forfeiture of $55 million in illegal proceeds, Crain’s reported.

Judge Durkin’s ruling stipulated that the seizure process would begin with the posting of a forfeiture notice at the property. Shah is among three former Outcome executives facing prison time for orchestrating what prosecutors have described as a “billion-dollar fraud” scheme.

Shah, deemed the architect of the scheme, and his team overbilled pharmaceutical companies by $48 million, for advertising on screens in doctors’ offices, and used inflated financials to secure over $970 million in loans and venture-capital investments. Shah personally profited $55 million from the fraud, some of which likely funded the purchase of the Clark Street mansion.

The 15,000-square-foot house, near Washington Square Park and the Newberry Library, was originally a 1916 Commonwealth Edison substation. It was transformed in 2009 into a luxury residence with six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a yard and a swimming pool.

The previous owners, who completed the conversion, listed it for $15 million in 2015 but sold it to Shah in 2018 for $8 million in cash after cutting the price.

At the time of purchase, Shah was renting the property for $50,000 a month. Outcome Health was then a rapidly growing healthcare media company valued at $5.5 billion, and Shah was listed by Forbes as one of America’s wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion. However, the company’s fortunes collapsed amid federal fraud charges.

In November 2019, sixteen months after Shah bought the property, the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago filed a lis pendens against it, marking the start of the forfeiture process. Shah agreed to forfeit the property the following month as part of his $20 million bond, the outlet reported.

According to Cook County Clerk records, there have been no changes in the property’s ownership since then, and it remains unclear if anyone has been residing there as of late.

—Quinn Donoghue