A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced Christopher Scott, a resident of Hazel Crest, Illinois, to five years and ten months in prison for fraudulently obtaining over $550,000 in small business loans through programs designed to provide Covid-19 relief. The sentencing follows Scott’s guilty plea earlier this year to a federal wire fraud charge.
According to court documents, Scott submitted multiple applications in 2020 and 2021 for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), both part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Authorities said the applications included false statements about business revenues, payrolls, and operating expenses on behalf of non-existent or inactive businesses. These misrepresentations led lenders and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to approve more than $550,000 in loans.
Prosecutors reported that Scott and others spent the funds on personal expenses at luxury retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Jared Jewelers, Von Maur, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
In addition to his prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo ordered Scott to pay $567,333 in restitution.
The announcement was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Dai Tran, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Chicago Field Office; with assistance from the SBA Office of Inspector General.
“Put simply, Scott’s crime was motivated by greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Alejandro G. Ortega stated in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “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.”
“The government programs exploited in this case were intended to help struggling small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic,” Secret Service SAIC Tran said. “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.”
