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| Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune |
A Florida man with ties to Loretto Hospital on Chicago’s West Side has been charged in a massive conspiracy to fraudulently bill the federal government for more than $200 million in COVID-19 tests that were actually never performed.
Jamil Elkoussa, 35, who currently resides in Orlando, is the latest to be charged in a fraud scheme involving the small West Side safety-net hospital that became a lighting rod of controversy during the coronavirus pandemic for administering vaccinations to connected insiders and paying millions in contracts to companies with close ties to facility administrators.
The indictment made public Monday charges Elkoussa with five counts of wire fraud and seeks forfeiture of a $4.9 million home in Miami, as well as properties in Alsip, Burr Ridge, Homer Glen and South Holland. A lawyer for Elkoussa could not immediately be reached.
An arrest warrant was issued for Elkoussa last week, records show. It was not immediately clear if he was in custody, and no court dates had been entered on the docket as of Monday.
According to the charges, Elkoussa was head of a company called Meridian Medical Staffing in 2022 when he contracted with Individual A, the owner of Laboratory A in Hillside, and others to provide specimens purportedly collected from patients for COVID-19 PCR tests.
Elkoussa claimed that many of the tests were collected at Loretto, as well as another former Chicago hospital and other sites in Florida, the indictment alleged. His co-conspirators then used the phony data provided by Elkoussa to submit bills to the Health Resources and Services Administration, which at the time provided reimbursement for tests on uninsured patients, according to the indictment. --->READ MORE HERE
An Inglewood woman has been arrested on a 14-count federal grand jury indictment alleging Gavelshe fraudulently obtained more than $1.3 million in COVID-19 pandemic relief funds by submitting more than 100 fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits using stolen identities, including those of California state prisoners, the Justice Department announced on Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Selena Stewart, 45, was arrested and arraigned on Wednesday.
At her arraignment, she pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of mail fraud, one count of use of unauthorized access devices, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count possession of at least 15 unauthorized access devices. An August 26 trial date is scheduled for this case.
A federal magistrate judge ordered Stewart released on $10,000 bond.
According to the indictment, from March 2020 to December 2020, Stewart and co-defendants Toby Brazier, 48, of the Westlake area of Los Angeles, and Tony Queen, 67, of Culver City, filed with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) fraudulent applications for UI benefits in the names of other people. EDD administers California’s unemployment benefits program. The applications were filed using the personal identifying information (PII) obtained from individuals whose information was used without their permission, as well as individuals who did not qualify for UI benefits because they were in the custody of California state prisons.
The fraudulent applications falsely stated that the purported applicants had been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered eligibility for UI benefits under federal law. The applications also falsely stated that the named claimants resided and had worked in California. In fact, most identity theft victims in this scheme did not live in California. The applications also provided false mailing addresses, false annual income information, and representations that the named claimants were self-employed individuals who were adversely impacted by COVID-19. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
CDC says COVID-19 cases rising in 25 states
Obesity rates in Canada increased after start of COVID-19 pandemic
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
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