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The defendants allegedly obtained millions of dollars in Covid-relief loans and other benefits.

The defendants allegedly schemed to fraudulently obtain Covid-relief benefits.

SHARHABEEL SHREITEH, an accountant in Palos Hills, Ill., and TRACY MITCHELL, the owner of a business in Joliet, Ill., allegedly engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

OLIVIA L. BRYANT admitted in a plea agreement that in 2020 and 2021 she stole hundreds of pieces of mail from her route in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A federal grand jury has returned indictments against 19 United States Postal Service employees and former employees, charging them with fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

The Justice Department announced today the results of a coordinated, nationwide enforcement action to combat COVID-19 fraud, which included 718 enforcement actions – including federal criminal charges against 371 defendants – for offenses related to over $836 million in alleged COVID-19 fraud.

PEORIA, Ill. – A Saint Augustine, Illinois man, Michael Lewis Patch, 66, of the 100 block of West Third Street, has been sentenced to 90 days in the Bureau of Prisons, five years of Supervised Release, and to pay more than $64,000 in restitution.

On September 1, 2021, the Legislative Audit Commission adopted Resolution Number 158 requiring a performance audit of the unemployment programs administered by the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) during the period of March 1, 2020, to September 6, 2021. The audit found that overpayments (which include fraud, non-fraud, and identity theft) were an issue in both the regular UI and PUA programs. IDES reported overpayments for FY20 to FY22 that totaled $5.24 billion; regular UI accounted for $2.04 billion and PUA accounted for $3.20 billion. Considering gross benefits associated...

The audit of the accompanying financial statements of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security Department was performed by RSM US LLP as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022. Based on their audit, the auditors expressed a qualified opinion on the Department's Statement of Net Position and a disclaimer of opinion on the Department's Statements of Revenues, Expenses, and Changes in Net Position and Cash Flows. Among their other findings was material weakness and noncompliance regarding the failure to maintain accurate and complete...

In 2020, QUAMDEEN AMUWO, 41, participated in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.

KRIKOR TOPOUZIAN, owner of Concord Health Supply in Skokie, Ill., was convicted of violating the Defense Production Act.

A federal jury in Chicago convicted an Illinois pharmacist on Friday for stealing and selling COVID-19 vaccination cards.

The audit of the accompanying financial statements of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund was performed by RSM US LLP for the year ended June 30, 2021. Based on their audit, the auditors expressed a disclaimer of opinion on the Department's Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund financial statements. The auditors identified three matters involving the Department's internal controls over financial reporting that they considered to be material weaknesses. Further, the auditors identified three noncompliance matters.

We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund (Trust Fund), an individual nonshared proprietary fund of the State of Illinois, Department of Employment Security, as of and for the year ended June 30, 2020. We found that the Department outsourced unemployment benefit claims processing to a service organization for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and the corresponding Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits. The system processing these claims had material weaknesses in the design and operation of internal controls and...