Evicted man accuse condo association, former director of fraud

A Cook County man is suing over claims his family was falsely evicted from his condo by a fraudulent association headed by a director that brought a malicious suit against him.

Viorel Berar filed a lawsuit July 7 in the Cook County Circuit Court against Sigrid Ingold and Thorndale Beach North Condominium Association, alleging fraud, civil conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty and malicious prosecution.

According to the complaint, Berar owned a unit in a building on North Sheridan Road in Chicago for more than 20 years, and lives off disability benefits after he was injured in the course of his former employment in construction.

Berar claims Ingold, the former director of the defendant association, harassed him in retaliation for failing to support her unfair practices on the board, including giving out favors to those who voted for her.

The suit alleges that after years of harassment, including fines for violations Ingold supposedly made up, the association brought a lawsuit against Berar, which resulted in a judgment he could not pay and he and his family's April 4, 2013 eviction from the unit.

Berar contends Ingold did not allow his family to re-enter the unit to retrieve their possessions, including health-essential items, clothing and credit cards, for four days and instructed the doormen not to allow him to enter the building, even to visit friends.

The suit states that Ingold then rented Berar's unit for two years, something not within her rights to do and for too little money, for the purpose of slowing the payments to satisfy the unlawful judgment against Berar.

Berar is seeking more than $1 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, as well as costs and interest. He is being represented in the case by attorney Thomas D. Rosenwein of Glickman, Flesch & Rosenwein in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L007165.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.