PPP fraud probe results in 6 Chicago Park District employees resigning, 5 facing discipline
By Dan Mihalopoulos and Frank MainPublished April 19, 2023Chicago Park DistrictSun-Times Media Wire
CHICAGO - Add the Chicago Park District to the list of government agencies with employees accused of defrauding federal COVID-19 relief programs.
In a new report, the park district’s internal investigators say they dug into more than two dozen cases in an ongoing probe that’s prompted six employees to resign, with five other workers also facing discipline.
Deborah Witzburg, City Hall’s inspector general, said Wednesday her office is separately investigating whether any of the city’s roughly 30,000 employees have committed similar fraud involving the federal Paycheck Protection Program. The PPP law was enacted to provide forgivable loans to help struggling businesses stay in business in 2020 and 2021 during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
Government employees also have been fired, forced to resign or faced other disciplinary action after being linked to PPP fraud at agencies including the office of Chief Cook County Judge Timothy Evans, the Cook County Board of Review, the Cook County assessor’s office and the clerk of the county’s circuit court system.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/ppp-fraud-probe-results-in-6-chicago-park-district-employees-resigning-5-facing-discipline
