Illinois state Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) | senatordewitte.com
Illinois state Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) | senatordewitte.com
Illinois state Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) has criticized Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker's administration after a police investigation revealed inmates fraudulently applied for pandemic loans and used the money they received to get out of jail.
During a Sept. 21 press conference, Joliet Police Chief William Evans announced that 25 inmates in Illinois jails, including the Will County Jail in Joliet, received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans after fraudulently applying for the money; the Daily-Journal reported. They then used the funds they received to get themselves out of jail.
"This is how careless Gov. Pritzker's pandemic unemployment insurance process was," DeWitte said in a Sept. 23 Facebook post. "They couldn't even take the time to check that these people were sitting in jail? #inexcusable #incompetent."
The Daily-Journal reported that those 25 inmates are now facing several charges including wire fraud, theft and loan fraud. Investigators have said the inmates each received approximately $20,000 in loans, which cost taxpayers a total of approximately $500,000. As of Sept. 21, 15 had been re-arrested, and warrants were out for the remaining 10.
Approximately three months ago, Illinois Auditor General Frank Mautino release a report that revealed more than half of the $3.6 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistant payments issued between July 2020 and June 2021 was fraudulent; Illinois Newsroom said. Republican lawmakers called for hearings to investigate the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) after the audit's findings were released.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has been critical of the Illinois government for failing to report fraudulent unemployment claims, an August report from Illinois Policy said. The department stated that not reporting fraudulent claims makes it easier for future fraud to slip through the cracks.
“Without accurate state performance information, Congress and the [Employment and Training Administration] are not able to fully assess state activities and mitigate the risk of overpayments and fraud for future programs of a similar nature,” the report said.
Nationwide, an estimated $163 billion in unemployment payments were fraudulent.
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