Chicago Suburb Scammer Gets 6 Years for PPP Heist

CHICAGO – CHRISTOPHER SCOTT, 46, of Hazel Crest, Illinois, will spend nearly six years in federal prison for a brazen scheme to steal over $550,000 in COVID-19 relief funds. A federal judge slammed Scott with a five-year, ten-month sentence Wednesday after he admitted to wire fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) programs.

Between 2020 and 2021, Scott systematically filed fraudulent applications to lenders and the U.S. Small Business Administration, creating phantom businesses or using companies that weren’t actually operating. These applications were riddled with lies about revenues, payrolls, and expenses – all designed to trigger payouts from the CARES Act programs meant to keep legitimate businesses afloat during the pandemic. The scheme successfully netted Scott more than $550,000 in fraudulently obtained loans.

But Scott didn’t use the money to save a struggling business. Instead, the feds say, he embarked on a spending spree of the most shameless variety. Loan proceeds were funneled directly into personal expenses, including lavish purchases at high-end retailers like Tiffany & Co., Jared Jewelers, Von Maur, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue. While businesses were shuttering and people were losing their livelihoods, Scott was loading up on luxury goods courtesy of American taxpayers.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro G. Ortega didn’t mince words in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Put simply, Scott’s crime was motivated by greed,” Ortega wrote. “This offense was not a simple lapse in judgment, or a crime born out of economic poverty or necessity. It was, at least, a year-long scheme to fraudulently obtain free money from the government.” Scott pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge earlier this year.

U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo didn’t just hand down the prison sentence. She also ordered Scott to pay $567,333 in restitution, a meager attempt to recoup the stolen funds. The case was announced by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Andrew S. Boutros, and Dai Tran, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office. The SBA Office of Inspector General provided substantial assistance in the investigation.

“The government programs exploited in this case were intended to help struggling small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic,” SAIC Tran stated. “Instead, this man pilfered more than half a million dollars from these programs—and by extension, taxpayers—to go on an outrageous high-end spending spree to benefit himself. I’m proud of the work the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois did to bring justice in this case.” This case serves as a stark reminder that those who prey on emergency relief programs will be held accountable.