Name: Feds: Chicago-area businessman got $420,000 in COVID-19 relief for company with no employees
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Feds: Chicago-area businessman got $420,000 in COVID-19 relief for company with no employees

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 07, 2021 at 12:11 pmA Chicago-area businessman has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly obtaining more than $420,000 in small business loans through COVID-19 relief programs even though his company had no employees or ongoing operations.Carlos Smith, 56, of Park Forest, was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with two counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, and one count of money laundering.AdvertisementSmith was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in a telephone hearing on Jan. 14 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Manish Shah.Smith did not have an attorney listed in court records as of Thursday.AdvertisementThe indictment alleged Smith lied on separate COVID-19 relief applications related to his business, CLS Financial Services, which is based in northwest Indiana.In July, Smith applied for and obtained $270,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was designed to give small business owners a lifeline to help cover costs and pay employees during the financial crisis caused by the pandemic.In his loan application, Smith stated that his company had 61 employees and an average monthly payroll of $108,000. In fact, Smith had no employees and no payroll expenses as the business had no “ongoing operations,” the indictment stated.Smith also failed to disclose on the application that he’d been convicted of a felony within the past five years, the indictment stated. Further details of Smith’s conviction were not disclosed in the charges.Three months before the PPP loan, Smith similarly obtained $151,900 in loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, another taxpayer-funded initiative meant to help small businesses cover operating expenses, according to the indictment.In that application Smith falsely stated his company had two employees and $1.8 million in gross revenue in 2019, even though he knew the company had no such employees or revenue, the indictment stated.The indictment against Smith was the latest in a handful of fraud cases brought against Chicago-area business owners related to the ongoing pandemic.Among the others: accused of obtaining a PPP loan even though she’d closed the restaurant and terminated all her employees; the owner of an Evanston-based technology company seeking a $441,000 PPP loan; and a North Shore businessman accused of seeking to purchase protective masks.Advertisement Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneJan 07, 2021 at 12:11 pmA Chicago-area businessman has been indicted on federal fraud charges for allegedly obtaining more than $420,000 in small business loans through COVID-19 relief programs even though his company had no employees or ongoing operations.Carlos Smith, 56, of Park Forest, was charged in an indictment unsealed Tuesday with two counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to a financial institution, and one count of money laundering.AdvertisementSmith was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges in a telephone hearing on Jan. 14...

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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

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Feds: Chicago-area businessman got $420,000 in COVID-19 relief for company with no employees

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