Executive

Waste of the Day: Illinois Investigating State Employees For $4.5 Million In PPP Fraud

Illinois authorities are investigating $4.5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud – from a program designed to be defrauded.

Published

3 weeks ago

November 8, 2023

Adam Andrzejewski

Lots of Benjamins lost to PPP fraud in Illinois alone

The Illinois Office of Executive Inspector General has referred 177 state employees to law enforcement agencies, alleging at least $4.5 million in fraudulently obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans, according to a recent report.

The PPP from the Small Business Administration was one of the most fraudulent programs in the history of federal programs, with an estimated $200 billion in fraudulent loans.

Waste of the Day - PPP fraud in Illinois — Waste of the Day 11.7.23 from Open the Books

The Illinois IG launched an investigation into state employees to determine if any had defrauded the federal government’s PPP. It initiated 438 investigations into employees receiving over $20,000 in PPP loans, and out of the 204 investigations it completed, 177 of them have been referred to law enforcement, or about 87% of concluded investigations.

These referrals were predicated on, “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.” Illinois law requires the IG to refer losses of over $5,000 in public funds from misconduct to the Illinois Attorney General.

The IG estimates that the total value of these fraudulent loans stands at $4.5 million, but says that its investigation is still ongoing, with 234 investigations still pending.

Employees of Illinois’ Department of Human Services are alleged to have perpetrated the most fraud, with 132 of the 177 referrals working at that agency. The next highest agency, the Department of Children and Family Services, had 25 referrals.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.

Adam Andrzejewski

CEO at OpenTheBooks.com | Website | + posts

Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) is the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.

Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.

The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.

Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.

Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.

Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.

Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.

In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.

Andrzejewski lives in Hinsdale, Illinois with his wife Kerry and three daughters. He is a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and has finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).