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Two former Chicago police officers have been charged with bilking federal Paycheck Protection Program coronavirus pandemic relief programs out of more than $2 million.
Torrey Price and Aaron Price were indicted on federal fraud charges unsealed Aug. 8.
Torrey Price, 55, was a member of the Chicago Police Department for 23 years. He had worked in the Morgan Park district and retired July 15, according to law enforcement sources.
Aaron Price, 61, was a Chicago police officer who retired in 2017 after almost 18 years with the department, a source said.
According to the indictment, they and a third person, Ashia McGee, illegally obtained about $1.4 million in loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which was set up to help businesses struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
They submitted false IRS tax filings to lenders, saying they paid employees who actually didn’t exist, according to the indictment, which said the trio also tried unsuccessfully to get another $4.2 million in PPP loans.
Torrey Price was a cop at the time the loan applications were filed.
Aaron Price and McGee also illegally got $787,000 from the separate federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to the indictment. --->READ MORE HERE
Sakiru Ambali, a 45-year-old Nigerian man, has been arraigned before a US district court over allegations of wire fraud.
Ambali was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, as he travelled to Canada from Nigeria, while another Nigerian, Fatiu Lawal, was arrested in Toronto, Canada, where he resides. They were both arrested in February 2023.
Lawal and Ambali were alleged to have used the stolen personal information of thousands of US taxpayers and residents to file over 1,700 fraudulent claims for COVID-19 pandemic unemployment benefits.
Although the total claims sought was approximately $25 million, the accused persons allegedly obtained approximately $2.4 million, primarily from pandemic unemployment benefits.
According to the US attorney’s office, Western District of Washington, “the co-conspirators allegedly submitted claims for pandemic unemployment benefits to more than 25 states including New York, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, California, and Washington”. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
FRANKLIN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO COVID-19 RELIEF FRAUD, BANK FRAUD, AND MONEY-LAUNDERING
A Miami man had a ticket to leave the U.S. after a $492,000 COVID-19 fraud, feds say
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
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