Chicago Fire Department official charged with federal banking violation

A Chicago Fire Department official is charged with depositing almost $300,000 into local financial institutions in violation of federal reporting requirements.

Antuane King, who is also a licensed real-estate broker, made at least 30 deposits of less than $10,000 each in the Chicago Firefighters Credit Union and other financial institutions between March 2015 and February 2016, federal prosecutors say.

Financial institutions must report any deposits of more than $10,000 to the government.

Evading the reporting requirements is called “structuring,” the crime for which former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert was sent to prison in 2016.

Hastert didn’t want authorities to know that he withdrawing money to pay for the silence of a former student who Hastert had sexually abused as a high-school teacher and wrestling coach decades earlier.

Court filings don’t explain why King allegedly violated bank reporting requirements.

King joined the fire department in 1999 and is paid about $95,000 a year as a marshal in the Office of Fire Investigation, according to city records. The only blemish on his fire department record is a complaint for inattention to duty, records show.

A spokesman for the fire department said he was unaware of the felony charge brought against King late last week.

King’s real-estate license is in good standing, state records show. A web search shows many real-estate listings in the name of his company, King Investment Group Inc., in recent years.

King is scheduled to be arraigned Friday. He couldn’t be reached for comment.