Suit: Furniture stores took money, but never delivered

Ziyad Suleiman, of the 5800 block of W. 75th Place, has had 54 complaints lodged against him and his four furniture businesses across the Southland, Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in the lawsuit.

Suleiman operated District Furniture Inc., in Chicago; US Furniture Inc., in Burbank; Express Furniture Gallery Inc., in Bedford Park and Chicago Ridge; and Export Furniture Inc., in Bedford Park, between 2001 and this year, the lawsuit said.

While running those businesses, the lawsuit alleges, Suleiman failed to deliver furniture, delivered damaged furniture and refused to give refunds to customers.

"The defendants' repeated failure to deliver promised goods demonstrates a clear pattern of fraudulent and deceptive practices," Madigan said in a statement.

The complaint seeks to bar Suleiman from selling furniture in Illinois and asks for him to pay restitution to his customers, investigative and court costs and a $50,000 fine, as well as an additional $50,000 for each separate violation of state consumer protection laws.

A listed number for Suleiman's home was disconnected, and attempts to reach him on his business phone numbers Monday were unsuccessful.

Monday's lawsuit is the latest in a string of legal woes for Suleiman, who spent 2 years and 2 months in federal prison between 2004 and 2006 after pleading guilty to bank fraud.

In that scheme, Suleiman and co-defendant Amal Himouz opened checking accounts in the names of various furniture stores they operated, including District Furniture, and deposited stolen checks with forged signatures, according to federal court records. Suleiman and Himouz would then withdraw the money and write checks for cash or to relatives, records said.

Federal investigators said the two attempted to defraud several banks, including LaSalle Bank and Marquette Bank, out of more than $1.2 million, but that the actual loss was $436,000.

Suleiman was ordered to pay that amount in restitution as part of his sentence, but U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Randall Samborn could not confirm how much of that amount had been paid back.

More than $35,000 in judgments has been awarded against Suleiman in Cook County, and another lawsuit filed in May seeking $2,700 is pending, court records show.

For now, Suleiman is not facing any criminal charges in Cook County, according to state's attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. And Samborn said that being sued by the attorney general was not a violation of Suleiman's probation in the bank fraud conviction.