A suburban accountant has been charged with conspiring to submit at least $10 million in bogus Illinois unemployment insurance claims during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the largest single schemes brought involving a program awash in fraud.
Hiam Hmaidan, 53, of Oak Lawn, was arrested May 8 on a six-count indictment that became public this week charging her with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. She pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez and was released on a $100,000 recognizance bond, court records show.
Her attorney, Nishay Sanan, told the Tribune on Friday that Hmaidan “looks forward to her day in court.”
“I don’t think the government understands what was going on in this case,” Sanan said.
According to the charges, from May 2020 to December 2022, Hmaidan and others conspired to use personal information obtained from other individuals to fraudulently apply for unemployment insurance benefits from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, which was was providing enhanced benefits to anyone out of work because of the pandemic.
The applications submitted by Hmaidan, which were done online, used false employment information, false information regarding whether the claimant was unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and false contact information for the claimant, according to the charges. --->READ MORE HERE
When glam new steakhouse Maple & Ash opens in New York City later this year — or in 2026, it will be one of Manhattan’s highest-profile eatery launches. But there might be more sizzle in a Chicago courtroom than on the 1290 Sixth Avenue grill.
The founders of the Chicago-based luxury steakhouse company allegedly used federal funds meant to pay Windy City employees’ salaries during COVID for personal expenses, including $2 million on a Learjet, according to a bombshell lawsuit.
The founders are accused of “fraudulently” tapping $7.6 million in COVID-era Small Business Paycheck Protection Program funds, according to the civil suit brought by investors in the restaurant group in Chicago’s Cook County Circuit Court. The case does not involve the New York opening.
Investors included Dylan Bates, former CEO of nationwide clinic chain ATI Physical Therapy; venture capital firm Chicago Knight Life; and Christopher Cowan, owner of eatery chain Kanela Breakfast Club.
According to the August 2023 amended complaint in the complex case, the alleged misappropriation was part of a wider pattern of questionable financial moves by Maple & Ash co-founders James Lasky and David Pisor. (Both were originally named as defendants, but the claims against Lasky were dismissed by the court, and the claims against Pisor were dropped from the current amended complaint.)
Lasky and Pisor’s business relationship ended in a flurry of lawsuits and countersuits that resulted in their company, which originally owned Maple & Ash — called What If Syndicate–– splitting in two as part of a January 2023 settlement. Lansky now owns Maple Hospitality Group, which is set to open the Manhattan outpost.
According to Eater Chicago, Pisor holds no ownership interests in any of the companies named in the lawsuit. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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