Paycheck Protection Program
Reporting on problems and fraud stemming from the federal Paycheck Protection Program established to provide relief to business owners during the COVID pandemic.
Delvya Harris, 32, was a CHA manager at the Trumbull Park Homes in South Deering when she stole 50 money orders worth a total of $18,125 and put them in her personal account between December 2022 and March 2023, prosecutors said. She pleaded guilty to that crime as well as for filing fraudulent PPP claims.
Marcus Taylor has pleaded guilty to fraud and drug-dealing charges. He could face at least eight years in prison.
Prosecutors said William Frederick Reed fraudulently applied for three federal Paycheck Protection Program loans by falsifying the monthly payroll of his private Off Duty Security business.
Many of the workers admitted they paid kickbacks to others to fill out phony applications to get loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to help businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Farooq Khan faces a possible sentence of more than four years in prison for defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
Amanda Heller, Sarah Stokes and James Townsend are charged in federal court with defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program that provided financial relief to businesses during the pandemic. President Donald Trump started the program in 2020.
WBEZ had to sue to get the subpoenas, which demanded documents including “any and all records pertaining to reimbursement payments” to King and “all emails sent to or from” King’s account at the privately run, government-funded charter school operator.
Inspector General Deborah Witzburg’s third-quarter report also includes three more city employees accused of fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program loans and another allegation of police abuse during civil unrest after the death of George Floyd.
Abdul Wahed, a 26-year-old India native in the U.S. on a student visa, is accused of filing tens of thousands of fraudulent claims in 2023.
Syed Shaukat Ahmed’s companies were paid more than $30 million by the federal government to provide free COVID-19 test kits to Medicare recipients. He has been charged with health care fraud.
In one case, the CHA revoked a rent voucher for a woman accused of getting fraudulent loans through the Paycheck Protection Program that a broker on Facebook offered to arrange. And six fired Illinois state workers also said they kicked back some of their loans. But the people arranging them escaped punishment.
Dos guardias de la cárcel están acusados de estafar al Programa de Protección de Pago (PPP, por sus siglas en inglés) creando negocios falsos para obtener préstamos destinados a negocios en dificultades durante la pandemia de COVID-19.
Two jail guards are accused of ripping off the Paycheck Protection Program by setting up phony businesses to get loans intended for struggling companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. A third guard was charged earlier this month.
Jareli Reyes, 32, is accused of fraudulently obtaining $41,666 in loans in 2021 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program that was established to provide relief to businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Reyes, who resigned last year, is charged with theft, income-tax fraud and wire fraud.
One said he ran a “babysitting” company. The other described himself as a “handyman.” The Illinois State Police filed complaints against them with a disciplinary board, and a criminal investigation is ongoing.
The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General found that state workers paid kickbacks to brokers who processed fraudulent loans to them under the Paycheck Protection Program, a federal COVID-relief effort for businesses.
Interim Cook County Inspector General Steven Cyranoski says he suspects eight workers of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program — on top of at least 31 workers he previously identified.
A year into Judge Timothy Evans’ still-secret investigation, the Sun-Times has found that nine of his highest-paid employees who left match loan recipients in the fraud-ridden Paycheck Protection Program.
Chicago’s Inspector General Deborah Witzburg revealed only one disciplinary case but said, “There are members of the police department included on the list that we are looking at.”