Philly Anchor Reacts to Husband's Indictment in Letter to Her Station

Yesterday, FTVLive told you that WCAU Anchor Renee Chenault-Fattah's husband has been indicted on racketeering charges. 

This morning, FTVLive told you that Chenault-Fattah was off the air and while she was not charged by federal authorities, the longtime Anchor did not escape the U.S. attorney's charging document.

Labeled as "Person E" throughout the 85-page indictment, Chenault-Fattah, one of the station's most visible personalities and anchor of the 4 and 6 p.m. broadcasts, is portrayed as a participant in a scheme to falsely report the sale of her 1989 Porsche Carrera convertible to a lobbyist for $18,000.

Now Chenault-Fattah, has tried to explain her role in a letter forwarded to the station. Chenault-Fattah wrote in reference to the sale of her 1989 Porsche Carrera convertible, “both the indictment and media accounts are incorrect.”

Authorities said the scheme had the Fattahs pretending to sell the Porsche to Vederman for $18,000. The indictment states that money was used to help pay closing costs for the Fattahs’ $425,000 vacation home in the Poconos.

The Federal government says the sale was phony and the Fattahs never actually sold the car. According to the indictment, Chenault-Fattah continued to register the car in her name, pay for vehicle service and pay for the insurance.

In her letter, Chenault-Fattah writes, “…we starting (sic) purchasing a home in the Poconos in the winter of 2011. Two weeks before the close, the mortgage said a new law went into effect (this was Jan of 2012) and we were required to put $18,000 in reserve. It could not be a gift or a loan.

Knowing this and not having an extra $18,000, I decided to sell my second car- a Porsche. A family friend agreed to buy it last minute and we sold the car for its blue book value...a bill of sale and transfer of title were conveyed to the friend.”

In the letter, Chenault-Fattah goes on to explain why the car remains at the Fattahs’ Philadelphia home. “…the car stayed at our house (we have 3 garages and the friend lives in a apartment) , for a time I continued with insuring it since it was in our garage and wanted nothing to happen to it,

and I had it towed to be serviced in the spring because I wanted it to be in good shape for the friend since this transaction had happened so hastily in the dead of winter. It has remained undriven in our garage for 3 years now because on advice of counsel.... we were instructed to do nothing with the car.”

She added, “I know this was a legitimate sale but this not likely to go away anytime soon.”

H/T WCAU