Tag: Illinois
Hiam Hmaidan, Unemployment Insurance Fraud, Illinois 2026
Hiam Hmaidan, a Chicago tax preparer, has been convicted of a brazen unemployment insurance fraud scheme that left a trail of devastation in its wake. The 48-year-old’s scheme, which spanned from May 2020 to December 2022, saw her and her co-conspirators submit nearly 700 fraudulent claims to a COVID-19 assistance program. The result? A staggering…
Jose Gregorio Sosa Cardona, Immigration Fraud, Child Pornography, Tax Offenses, Illinois 2026
Related Federal Cases Dan Stephen Daniels, Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography, Illinois 2015 · Illinois Eric Holub, Tax Withholding Fraud, Iowa 2008 · Iowa Brady Verlo, Receipt of Child Pornography, Iowa 2013 · Iowa Jeremiah Romo, Possession of Child Pornography, Iowa 2014 · Iowa Mark C. Simpson, Child Support Fraud and Cocaine Distribution, Georgia 2009…
Raed Naser, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Illinois 2026
⏱ 2 min read Raed Naser, a 41-year-old suburban Chicago businessman, has been charged with orchestrating a pair of fraud schemes that netted him over $4 million. The schemes involved submitting false invoices for nonexistent freight shipping and selling bakery franchises to an unsuspecting buyer after fraudulently inflating their value. Naser, who owned a freight…
Tony Clapp, Attempting to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Illinois 2025
⏱ 2 min read Tony Clapp, a 62-year-old Sterling, Illinois man, attempted to traffic a large quantity of methamphetamine from California to Illinois in February 2022. Clapp, who was already on court-supervised release following a 2008 federal prison sentence for cocaine distribution, arranged for the purchase and delivery of approximately three kilograms of pure methamphetamine.…
B.E.S.T. Gdr, LLC and Yosef Bernath, Consumer Fraud, Illinois 2024
B.E.S.T. GDR, LLC, doing business as Premium Home Service, and its CEO, Yosef Bernath, were charged with violating federal and state law in connection with the sale of home repair and improvement services, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The defendants allegedly orchestrated a nationwide…
Raymond Echavez Villamor, Wire Fraud, Illinois 2023
⏱ 2 min read A California man, Raymond Echavez Villamor, 62, has been sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison for swindling a suburban Chicago resident out of $2 million. The scheme, which lasted six months in 2023, involved Villamor falsely representing himself as an investment advisor and promising the victim a substantial return on…
Symphony Jackson Square LLC, False Claims Act, Illinois 2023
Three affiliated skilled nursing facilities in Illinois have agreed to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by submitting or causing the submission of false claims to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for medically unnecessary rehabilitation services. Under the agreement, Symphony Jackson Square LLC doing business as Symphony of Chicago West,…
Tyrese Fenton-Watson, Home Invasion, Illinois 2026
⏱ 3 min read A seventh defendant, Tyrese Fenton-Watson, 23, has been charged in a violent home invasion that terrorized a Winnetka family. On March 8, 2026, Fenton-Watson and six co-conspirators, including Dashun Brown, posed as a food delivery driver to gain entry to the home. Armed with loaded firearms, the group forcibly entered the…
Brandi Wright, Wire Fraud, Illinois 2021
⏱ 2 min read A Chicago cop allegedly cooked the books to score $41,000 in COVID-relief loans, authorities said. Brandi Wright, a 44-year-old Chicago Police sergeant, submitted phony loan applications for a bakery business that didn’t exist, claiming $250,000 in annual revenue and $100,000 in payroll costs, according to a federal indictment. She used the…
FC Stone Financial, Securities Reporting Fraud, Illinois 2017
Chicago, IL – November 14, 2017 – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced charges against FCStone Financial Inc. and its subsidiary, FCStone Merchant Services LLC, for engaging in fraudulent reporting practices and failing to maintain adequate supervisory systems. The companies, jointly and severally, will pay a $280,000 civil monetary penalty as part of…
