Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » State’s Executive Inspector General refers 177 PPP fraud cases to law enforcement in ongoing probe
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
State’s Executive Inspector General refers 177 PPP fraud cases to law enforcement in ongoing probe

Tuesday, Sep 12, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* OEIG…

In 2022, the Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor (OEIG) initiated a large-scale fraud investigation project, to examine whether State of Illinois employees improperly obtained federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. PPP loans were issued to provide relief to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and were eligible for forgiveness if used for qualifying expenses.

Using publicly available information, the OEIG identified PPP loans obtained by individuals with personal identifiers matching those of employees under the OEIG’s jurisdiction. Because a preliminary review of the data revealed a large number of such loans, the OEIG initially focused the investigation on PPP loans of approximately $20,000 or more. In order to be eligible for a PPP loan of that size, a business typically would have needed to generate approximately $100,000 or more of annual net profit or gross income—earned outside of the employee’s full-time State work hours. Once the OEIG identified these PPP loans, the OEIG conducted further investigation to determine whether employees received those loans in a fraudulent manner.

To date, the OEIG has conducted the following investigative activity since beginning its PPP investigation project:

As of 9/12/23

    PPP investigations initiated: 438
    PPP investigations concluded: 204
    PPP referrals to any law enforcement agency 177

The State of Illinois Code of Personal Conduct requires State employees to conduct themselves “with integrity and in a manner that reflects favorably upon the State.” In addition, various agency policies prohibit employees from engaging in conduct that is unbecoming of a State employee. In 177 cases to date, the OEIG determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that a State employee violated the State of Illinois Code of Personal Conduct and/or agency policy by obtaining PPP loans based on falsified information. The OEIG has, so far, issued these founded reports to the employing State agencies, as indicated below:


To date, the improper loans identified in these founded reports total more than $4.5 million in public funds. The OEIG’s PPP investigation project remains ongoing. These numbers do not reflect a final total of OEIG founded reports or a final total for any particular agency.

State employees are expected to maintain the public’s trust and confidence, and misappropriating public funds is far from acting with integrity, or conducting oneself in a manner that reflects favorably upon the State. Acting in such a manner may result in the loss of employment. Employees also are reminded of their duty to cooperate with OEIG investigations, and that failure to cooperate can also be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal.

       

23 Comments
  1. - Socially DIstant watcher - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:03 pm:

    That DHS leads the list is no surprise, but it is striking that Corrections isn’t there at all. Lots of employees and a substellar reputation, but none of them took this money?


  2. - Annonin' - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:05 pm:

    wonderin’ if this means IL is the leading state?


  3. - very old soil - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:12 pm:

    Not likely that Illinois is leading. It’s a nationwide problem.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/09/12/unemployment-fraud-covid-aid-report/


  4. - DHS Drone - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:28 pm:

    Assuming the 177 came out of the 204, that means only 27 people had a secondary employment form that matched up to what was on the PPP list. Also, looks like 234 more cases are being looked at. If the percentage holds, that’s a whole lot more state workers being shown the door.


  5. - Hannibal Lecter - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:33 pm:

    === that means only 27 people had a secondary employment form that matched up to what was on the PPP list. ===

    Or that the individuals originally identified had common names with others that obtained the loans.


  6. - DHS Drone - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:34 pm:

    PPP database gives home addresses which the state has. If the name and address match, the state can look up your secondary employment form. If you got a job on the PPP list that isn’t on that form, you got some explaining to do.


  7. - cermak_rd - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:50 pm:

    I am very glad the state is doing this. At some point in time the private sector also needs checking (pretty well all PPP loans should be re-examined now that there is time.) I don’t like fraudsters. And these fraudsters were trying to take advantage of disaster funds. I hope they all get prosecuted.


  8. - Amalia - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:50 pm:

    is there a list for private business violators?


  9. - Marco Polo - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:51 pm:

    Is it just me, or are the top six agencies all under Sol Flores?


  10. - Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:51 pm:

    Another black eye for IDHS - June OIG report about abuse and neglect at Choate and now 132 IDHS employees scamming PPP. Fix that Dept ASAP.


  11. - Nagidam - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 3:57 pm:

    @Socially DIstant Watcher

    ===That DHS leads the list is no surprise, but it is striking that Corrections isn’t there at all. Lots of employees and a substellar reputation, but none of them took this money? ===

    Oh, it’s coming, just wait. Lots of them.


  12. - Lincoln Lad - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 4:18 pm:

    Employee count isn’t equal across all agencies… DHS employs a lot of people and would likely have the most offenders as they have a large population. But that said, this is still very disturbing in a lot of ways. This is stealing federal money because you can… kiss those pensions good bye!


  13. - ANON - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 4:30 pm:

    When is the US House GOP going after the private sector PPP fraudsters–that was one of their promises, until they saw the list :) !


  14. - Jet Sweep - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 4:38 pm:

    I don’t get this particular form of graft. Was there some sort of dark web APB to government employees that this was an easy score?


  15. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 4:46 pm:

    ===to government employees===

    I’m sure it’s far more widespread than that, but it’s just easier I think for state and local governments to catch these folks.


  16. - Hannibal Lecter - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 4:46 pm:

    === Was there some sort of dark web APB to government employees that this was an easy score? ===

    It wasn’t just government employees - they are the main ones getting caught though because most private employers are not looking at this issue.


  17. - DHS Drone - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 5:07 pm:

    DHS hovers between 12 and 13k employees. Right now, we’ve lost roughly 1% of our headcount over this. As to the how, people told other people. Some of these workers were clustered in the same facility or office. As has been reported earlier, 37 workers were from one developmental center.


  18. - Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 5:23 pm:

    === Corrections isn’t there at all===

    If one listens closely they can hear the Spirit of Corrections whispering in the wind “I didn’t see anything” in between the “When I started people still bought their promotion to Lt with political contributions” and “They’ll never touch her, she was one of the good time girls.”

    Given everything I’ve heard about Corrections over the years I would be astonished if they promptly and quickly completed any investigation that wasn’t driven by a warden or deputy director out for petty revenge. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they were dragging their feet on terminating for PPP fraud on account of their staffing crisis.


  19. - Frida's boss - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 5:53 pm:

    Hit Google and type PPP fraud, and you’ll see countless articles from all over the country. It was a grift done by all walks of life. Men, women, rich, poor, business owners, government employees, pro athletes, people in prison etc etc. BTW most of them are doing some level of time depending on how much they took.


  20. - Excessively Rabid - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 6:23 pm:

    Anyone who abused this program should suffer the wrath of God. It may take a long time, but I’m all for going after every one of these folks.


  21. - DHS Drone - Tuesday, Sep 12, 23 @ 9:51 pm:

    “BTW most of them are doing some level of time depending on how much they took.”

    Yes there are workers who resign or retire, before discharge, and think it’s over. It isn’t.


  22. - The Dude - Wednesday, Sep 13, 23 @ 4:20 am:

    One downside to this is its bogging down the OEIG. Other cases that they took are taking much longer to get investigated due to the amount of staff on this issue.

    Scary thought is that it’s causing other issues to go on longer than they normally would.

    All because of corrupt individuals breaking the law.


  23. - DHS Drone - Wednesday, Sep 13, 23 @ 5:45 am:

    Exactly. And OEIG admits they are only looking at the cases for 20k or more. They just don’t have the personnel to look into all of them.


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Showcasing The Retailers Who Make Illinois Work
* Reader comments closed for the holidays
* And the winners are…
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Update to previous editions
* Isabel’s afternoon roundup
* Report: Far-right Illinois billionaires may have skirted immigration rules
* Question of the day: Golden Horseshoe Awards (Updated)
* Energy Storage Brings Cheaper Electricity, Greater Reliability
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller