The tale of Omar Shareef: Activist falls from grace into an indictment

The tale of Omar Shareef: Activist falls from grace into an indictment

Who is Omar Shareef, and why has the state's attorney indicted him for theft and forgery? It depends on whom you ask.

Ask Chicago schools CEO Paul Vallas, and he'll tell you that Shareef is a "shakedown artist" who's being prosecuted because he tried to defraud the school system on a small contracting job.

Ask Shareef, and he'll tell you he's an activist, and that his indictment is payback for a political embarrassment he delivered to Vallas a year and a half ago.

Shareef is the president and founder of the African American Contractors Association (AACA), an 11-year-old activist group …