Suburban businessman who tried to help out a jailed Moroccan buddy now faces his own federal indictment

Businessman Joseph Nicolazzi offered to let his jailed Moroccan friend Jawad Fakroune stay at his south suburban home if a federal judge would let Fakroune out on bail.

But the judge denied Fakroune’s bail request earlier this year and he remained in a federal lockup where he’s awaiting trial on charges of defrauding investors of millions of dollars and threatening to kill a restaurant owner in an extortion scheme.

Now, Nicolazzi is facing federal charges, too, after he was indicted Tuesday on federal charges of real estate fraud.

Nicolazzi, owner of TTS Granite, is accused of submitting false information to obtain nearly $350,000 in loans for his properties in South Chicago Heights and Homewood. Nicolazzi falsely represented that the loans were for renovating the properties when they w