Until the Sun-Times filed a lawsuit, Cook County Sheriff’s Office Tom Dart refused to release records related to an investigation through his agency, the FBI and the Chicago Police Department into possible COVID-19 relief fraud through inmates at the Cook County Jail.
Brian Jackson/Sun-Times Archive
Recorded conversations show that dozens of inmates at the Cook County Jail conspired to loot the federal paycheck coverage program and government COVID-19 relief systems at the start of the pandemic, according to documents received by the Chicago Sun -Times.
Cook County sheriff’s officials opened an investigation in 2020 into inmates using jail phones to discuss various kinds of financial fraud and found they were targeting state coronavirus unemployment insurance programs, federal business relief programs and personal bank accounts.
Many inmates spoke of tens of thousands of dollars.
Despite months of conspiracy, none of the inmates have been arrested or charged with fraud in connection with the plans, according to Cook County Sheriff’s Office Tom Dart, who in reaction to a complaint filed through the Sun-TimesArray loads many pages. Investigators’ notes on recorded calls in which detainees were suspected of conspiring to commit money crimes.
The sheriff withheld the names of the inmates and others they spoke to, raising privacy concerns. Other data has also been heavily redacted.
The lawsuit came after the sheriff denied a request for a public recording of the newspaper on Aug. 22, saying the release of the recordings would “interfere with the FBI’s open investigation into this incident and similar incidents. “A Dart spokesman said the FBI had asked for the denial.
Sheriff’s officials contacted the FBI and U. S. Attorney’s Office in 2020 when they discovered inmates were engaging in potential federal budget-related fraud across jurisdictions and across state lines, the Gate said. – floor, referring questions to the FBI.
The FBI says it “will not comment on the nature, lifestyles, or non-lifestyles of any investigation that is likely to be conducted. “
During the pandemic, fraud was rampant in state unemployment insurance systems and in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.
Last year, the SBA inspector general, who oversaw PPP loans and economic crisis loans, estimated that at least 17% of the $1. 2 trillion distributed through those systems was received through fraud.
In the federal prison system, at least one-quarter of a billion dollars in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits went to inmates across the country, according to a government estimate.
In Chicago, hundreds of public employees are among those suspected of pandemic relief fraud, but few have faced criminal charges. One exception saw two Chicago cops charged in a federal indictment with stealing more than $2 million in PPP money. One of the officers retired two weeks before he was charged last year.
Cook County Jail inmates have been recorded conspiring to defraud pandemic relief programs.
Getty Images
During the pandemic, the government pumped cash into the economy through these relief systems without enough “guardrails” to prevent fraud, according to congressional testimony. Despite widespread fraud, supporters say this technique prevented the economy from collapsing.
Though the fraud schemes began in 2020, information about them is still coming to light nearly four years later.
Sheriff’s records show inmates temporarily learned how to apply for government pandemic benefits with fake credentials. They also figured out how to illegally acquire bank account data for other schemes.
The detainees — mostly men — typically asked girlfriends and wives on the outside to carry out their financial crimes. In some cases, that included threats of violence.
“I’m forcing you to do it now,” one detainee said in a recorded call on June 6, 2020. “If you don’t, something bad will happen to you. “
The user at the end of the line said: “I’m scared for my life. “
Laughing, the inmate replied, “I know. That’s why you have to do what I tell you. “
During the calls, other people held in prisons said they were collecting cash to pay for bail and lawyers. The detainees said they needed up to $50,000 to be released on bail.
One said that, “when he has a total $20k, he is going to hire a new attorney to get him a bond, then turn over that bond slip to his new attorney for his fees,” according to an investigator’s report.
Inmates also deposit thousands of dollars into their criminal accounts, a source of enforced bans.
In 2020, before the end of cash bond, they could post bail from their accounts. They also could buy food and other items from the commissary and send money to family and friends.
“What caught our attention in these cases was the fact that they represented an unusual increase in instances of potential fraud,” a sheriff’s spokesman says. “We conduct daily reviews of what funds come into the jail accounts and if we see something suspicious, we will investigate.”
“We are not seeing anything similar currently,” the spokesman said.
In some cases, though, investigators learned that large transfers of money into inmates’ accounts came from legitimate sources.
According to investigation reports, some detainees said they wanted to set up a business with the proceeds of their fraud. One of them had the idea of providing security to hashish dispensaries when he was released.
They also talked about buying weapons.
The user on the other side of the line said, “Everyone is waiting for their check to be deposited so they can buy it,” according to an investigator’s report.
Sources have told the Sun-Times that gun possession sharply rose in parts of Chicago during the pandemic because gang members were flush with cash from defrauding government relief programs intended to help struggling businesses.
On the recorded calls, jail detainees talked about other ways to spend their fraudulent proceeds. Their wishlists included homes, vehicles like a “Benz” and a drone. Some also worried about their girlfriends going on shopping sprees with the money.
In addition to discussions of fraud, the recordings offer a glimpse into prison life. In one call, a man said his fellow inmates were drinking hand sanitizer, possibly to drink alcohol. Another mourned the shooting death of a friend in the city center. One of them was talking on the phone with her friend while she trafficked a child in the back seat of her car. Another detainee spoke to a guy who said he had been on the street to “loot. “
Some talked about then-President Donald Trump, who signed the law creating pandemic relief systems aimed at inmates. One said he hoped Trump would be re-elected in 2020 because he explained why there is so much cash available.
Another said he wasn’t afraid of getting caught and that “the feds couldn’t touch him,” according to one report.
In all, The Sun-Times received reports of phone conversations from 27 Cook County jail inmates suspected of fraud, even though some documents were completely blacked out.
Many of the inmates involved in the calls, and the other people they spoke to, seemed to know a lot about how the banking formula and pandemic aid formulas worked.
On June 16, 2020, an inmate, who was chatting on the “dark web” buying groceries on a site called BriansClub to get stolen bank details from other people, said he was looking to buy account data only in the zip codes of “other rich people. “friends,” in places like Highland Park, Wheaton and Naperville.
“We don’t need Chase,” he said of the banking giant. Too much security. “
On July 21, 2020, another inmate spoke of purchase data in bank accounts, one of which contained $70,000 and the other $163,000.
A photo from the sheriff’s investigation showing what appears to be a Cook County Jail inmate’s wallet with a list of credit reporting agencies and shipping companies.
Cook County Sheriff’s Office
These types of frauds, called “cracking cards” on the streets, have been the subject of hip-hop songs in which some rappers have explained how to achieve it. Chicago rapper G Herbo has been found guilty of stealing credit card data to pay for branded personal jets and puppies.
Inmates also asked their girlfriends to apply for PPP loans and pandemic unemployment insurance in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, California, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Wyoming and more. other states.
Indiana “practically gives away money,” said one.
According to sheriff’s records, investigators searched for key words in the conversations. “Gaffle,” they said, means a lot of money. “Dollars” means 1,000, so $10 is equal to $10,000. “Salt” means freezing an account. And “breaking a V” means buying a car.
“They use basketball players’ names as adjectives to describe whether they have something; I have a Larry Bird right now,” one report said.
The investigation was opened on June 15, 2020, according to sheriff’s records, which show the FBI and Chicago police were also involved.
On Aug. 4, 2020, the investigators met to discuss the methods they heard being used to try to steal the money. The records show investigators subpoenaed bank records, which weren’t included in the documents the Sun-Times got from the sheriff’s office.
“Over the years, we have solved countless crimes based on open recorded conversations,” the sheriff’s spokesman says. “There are not many things said on the jail’s phone system that that can surprise us.”