Family adviser faces charge
Addiction center owner accused of not turning over records to police
Post-Tribune (IN)
March 21, 2006
Nancy Fromm, at the center of some of Northwest Indiana's juiciest political scandals, will face federal charges of obstructing a grand jury investigation.
The owner of the politically connected Addiction and Family Care Inc. was indicted Monday on a single count of obstruction of justice. U.S. Attorney Joseph VanBokkelen said she is accused of not turning over records to the grand jury in September 2005 as ordered. Specifically, the U.S. Attorney's Office believes she kept a system of index cards with income records. VanBokkelen said when the U.S. Attorney announced its Operation Restore Public Integrity, officials were warned that lying to the grand jury or obstructing its search would be punished.
"This is another case of someone not getting the message," he said.
Fromm and her counseling service remain at the center of scandal. She is listed as the victim in the upcoming federal trial of former Schererville Town Judge Deborah A. Riga. The judge awaits trial April 3, accused of extorting money from Fromm for the addiction counseling program.
Asked about her role, VanBokkelen said, "She's the defendant in this case so she's not the victim in this case. Is she the victim in the other case? That is for a jury to decide."
In previous years, federal agents have carted away records of former North Township Trustee Greg Cvitkovich, who pled guilty in 2005 to federal tax charges, including records concerning Fromm's contract to provide counseling service to township employees.
Both Fromm and Cvitkovich have been linked to Bobby Cantrell, the notorious Lake County political fixer, who has worked for both of them at one time or another. Cantrell has collected a referral fee from Fromm.
Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando has referred evidence he compiled about the use of Addiction and Family Care by Lake County judges to the Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.
Among Fromm's clients are Cantrell's daughter, Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell.
Villalpando has accused Bobby Cantrell of putting up candidates against him in the May primary because he was reluctant to use Fromm's counseling service in his own court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne T. Ault said Fromm continues to have 12 to 18 contracts with various government agencies, including the city of Hammond and local courts, from Fromm's offices in Hammond and Merrillville.
VanBokkelen was tight-lipped on the ongoing federal investigation. Fromm's failure to comply with the federal order to turn over her records from Jan. 1, 1999, to the present has hampered their look into whether Fromm paid to obtain public contracts, he said.
"A contractor should not have to pay to get contracts. We are investigating whether or not that occurs. That's why we call it pay to play," he said.
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