Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced his office obtained a guilty plea and restitution in a case against a former employee of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office who fraudulently applied for and received approximately $20,000 in Paycheck Protection Programs (PPP) loans during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Attorney General’s office prosecuted Raymond Harris, 45, of Calumet Park, Illinois, who pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of theft exceeding $10,000 and not exceeding $100,000, a Class 2 felony. Harris paid $2,500 in restitution upfront, with Cook County Circuit Court Judge Michael Pattarozzi ordering Harris to pay the remainder in $382 monthly installments and to complete two years of second chance probation.
“Individuals who took advantage of COVID assistance programs should be held accountable, especially if those individuals were also responsible for serving the people of Illinois,” Raoul said. “I will continue to prosecute government workers who exploited pandemic assistance programs that were critical to the survival of countless small businesses.”
According to Raoul’s office, Harris was employed by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in 2021 when he fraudulently applied for and received a PPP loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration by falsely claiming that he owned a sole proprietorship business that did not exist.
This plea is the most recent action Attorney General Raoul has taken to hold individuals accountable for fraudulently collecting government assistance related to the pandemic. Raoul’s office has prosecuted a number of individuals for PPP loan fraud and referred other investigations to the appropriate state’s attorneys for further evaluation.
Assistant Attorney General Peter Ravoori prosecuted the case for Raoul’s Criminal Prosecutions and Trials Assistance Bureau.
