Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced To More Than Five Years In Prison For $1.5 Million COVID-Relief Fraud
CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago man to more than five years in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Over a five-month period in 2021, FEROZ JALAL participated in a scheme to defraud banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program allowed qualifying small businesses to receive low-interest, government-backed loans to cover a temporary loss of revenue during the Covid pandemic. As part of the scheme, Jalal submitted to lenders and the SBA at least a dozen applications for PPP loans on behalf of businesses that he and others purportedly owned. The applications contained false statements and misrepresentations concerning the purported entities’ employees, revenues, costs, and statuses of operations. In support of his applications, Jalal provided, among other things, fake IRS tax filings and bogus spreadsheets that purported to document the companies’ payroll expenses..
Action Details
- Date:February 19, 2025
- Agency:U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois
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Enforcement Types:
- COVID-19,
- Criminal and Civil Actions