Ex-Philadelphia city treasurer pleads guilty to naturalization fraud, tax violations

A former city treasurer in Philadelphia pleaded guilty to naturalization fraud and failure to pay income taxes on Thursday.

As the Department of Justice announced, former Philadelphia City Treasurer Christian Dunbar pleaded guilty to “procurement of citizenship unlawfully and through multiple false statements; submitting false citizenship papers; and failure to file tax returns, all in connection with false statements and altered documents he submitted as part of his application to become a U.S. citizen, and failing to file his federal tax returns in three separate years.”

He failed to file tax returns in 2015, 2016, and 2019 – the last year being when he served as treasurer.

“Christian Dunbar’s conduct in this case demonstrates a shocking level of misconduct for anyone, let alone a senior official with the city of Philadelphia whose job it was to oversee the city’s fiscal stability,” U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said. “Our office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of complicated public corruption cases, and hold public officials accountable.”

The department emphasized the importance of preserving public trust and punishing government workers who violate it.

“It’s a sad irony that such a dishonest person wound up city treasurer, a key position of public trust,” said Jacqueline Maguire, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division. “Corruption like this corrodes people’s faith in government, which is why the FBI works so hard to hold crooked public officials accountable.”

Though Dunbar is the latest example of Philadelphia officials breaking the law, he is not alone.

In June, eight city workers were charged by the attorney general for an unemployment fraud scheme, as The Center Square previously reported, to receive pandemic-related assistance while still on the city’s payroll.

Also in June, former U.S. congressman and Philadelphia political operative Ozzie Myers pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy in a vote-rigging scheme.