Crime & Law
CPD Agrees to Fire Sergeant Who Lied to Get COVID-19 Relief Loan: Watchdog
(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Chicago police brass agreed to fire a police sergeant who improperly obtained a loan from a federal program designed to help small businesses endure the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released Thursday by the city’s watchdog.
The sergeant, who was not identified in the report released by Inspector General Deborah Witzburg in keeping with the city’s rules, is the second member of the Chicago Police Department to face termination for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the watchdog’s quarterly report.
“I continue to believe that people cannot both work for the government and defraud the government,” Witzburg said in a statement.
The sergeant obtained two loans totaling $45,458 after the sergeant “made materially false statements in their application for forgiveness of the loans,” according to Witzburg’s probe.
“Furthermore, the evidence indicated that the subject signed three of the four loan applications via DocuSign from a city (computer) on days that the subject was working,” according to the probe.
The sergeant’s former partner also improperly applied for loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, and the sergeant’s application for that loan “contained identical information,” according to the probe.
The sergeant’s partner, who was also not named by the inspector general, obtained $18,000 in funds from the Paycheck Protection Program for an “insurance agency business that OIG’s investigation revealed not to exist,” according to a report released by the inspector general in July.
The sergeant’s partner also made “false statements in order to obstruct OIG’s investigation when they claimed they did not submit” a loan application to federal officials, according to the inspector general’s July report.
CPD leaders agreed to terminate both the sergeant and their former partner, according to the inspector general.
The sergeant has also been stripped of their police powers, according to the inspector general.
In a separate probe, Witzburg found that a non-sworn member of CPD also fraudulently obtained a loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. That employee, who was also not identified by the inspector general, resigned after the inspector general requested an interview about the alleged misconduct.
CPD officials agreed to include that individual on the city’s do-not-hire list, according to the probe.
Witzburg has made investigating alleged cases of fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic a priority.
Separate investigations have found seven other city employees committed fraud, according to Witzburg’s office, and 12 additional investigations are on track to be completed by the end of March.
WTTW News coverage of policing and police reform is supported by The Joyce Foundation.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
