Politics
CPD Agrees to Fire 7 More Officers Who Lied to Get COVID-19 Relief Loans, CDOT Employees Also Targeted: Watchdog
(WTTW News)
Chicago police brass agreed to fire seven police officers who improperly obtained loans 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.
One of the officers resigned during the investigation, according to the quarterly report released by Inspector General David Glockner. Employees at the Department of Transportation and an alderperson’s staff assistant were also found to have defrauded the relief programs.
The seven police officers obtained loans worth approximately $170,000 after making “materially false statements in their applications for forgiveness of the loans,” according to the report. None were identified, in keeping with the city’s rules.
CPD officials agreed to include all of the officers on the city’s do-not-hire list, according to the probe.
In all, 17 members of the Chicago Police Department have faced termination for allegedly defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program of a total of approximately $517,000, according to reports released by the Office of the Inspector General.
In addition, the inspector general found an assistant general superintendent with the Chicago Department of Transportation defrauded relief programs of $30,833 and refused to cooperate with the inspector general, according to the report.
Department leadership agreed to fire the assistant superintendent and place them on the city’s do-not-hire list, according to the report.
A CDOT motor truck driver also defrauded the relief programs of $20,272, according to the report. During the probe, the truck driver resigned, and they will also be placed on the do-not-hire list, according to the report.
The inspector general also found that a former staff assistant to an alderperson defrauded the relief programs of $20,833, according to the report. That employee should be placed on the city’s do-not-hire list, the inspector general recommended, but the alderperson they worked for did not respond to the inspector general’s report within the required 30 days, according to the report. The alderperson was also not named in the report.
The quarterly report represents Glockner’s first to include only reports conducted under his leadership.
“We have focused particularly on improving the timeliness, efficiency, and impact of our work. Our audits and investigations are most useful when they are timely,” Glockner wrote. “If too much time passes between the start and the end of a matter, its findings may no longer reflect current conditions, and delays in investigations can prolong uncertainty for employees, departments, and the public. When the behavior under review is serious, delays can extend harm and postpone the corrective action needed to safeguard the city and all who call Chicago home.”
The inspector general’s investigations team reduced the number of matters pending for longer than a year by nearly 33% and resolved more than twice as many cases as in the previous quarter, while the audit team has completed nine reports since May, matching the office’s all-time annual high in less than two quarters — with more on the way, Glockner wrote.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
