7 Chicago-area residents charged with $16 million in pandemic relief fraud
CHICAGO (CBS) – Seven people from the Chicago area are facing federal charges alleging they fraudulently obtaining at least $16 million in small business loans and grants available because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a news release the charges were related to defendants obtaining the money through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.
Maja Nikolic, 34, of Brookfield, Marko Nikolic, 34, of La Grange, Nebojsa Simeunovic, 37 of Lyons, Mijajlo Stanisic, 33 of Willowbrook, Branko Aleksic, 33, of Chicago, Milica Sumakovic, 31, of Chicago and Dorde Todorovic, 32, of Chicago, were charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors said in 2020, the defendants submitted fraudulent applications to the Small Business Association in which they claimed to own and operate various businesses in Illinois and Florida. The applications had "materially false representations about the defendants' companies, including the number of purported employees, revenue amounts, and other expenses."
The defendants used the money to make cash withdrawals and transfers for their personal benefit, prosecutors said.
Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled for the defendants.
Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19 is asked to report it to the Department of Justice's National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or fil a complaint online at justice.gov.