Attorney General Kwame Raoul has brought charges against Delvya Harris, a 32-year-old South Holland resident, for alleged theft and fraud involving government funds, according to a recent announcement from his office. Harris is accused of pocketing over $18,000 in rent payments from Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) tenants—a role she played while employed by a property management firm—and misleadingly obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by claiming ownership of a non-existent business. The charges include two counts of theft of government property over $10,000, wire fraud, and multiple counts of forgery, among other allegations.
The Attorney General's office delineates a career of deceit, where Harris, as an assistant community manager with the Habitat Company, manipulated not just the rent she was supposed to safeguard for the CHA, but also finagled funds from federal aid programs meant as a lifeline during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has pled not guilty to the charges, with a court date set for October 24. "It is unconscionable an individual entrusted to work on behalf of taxpayers would steal for their own financial gain," Raoul said. "I am committed to ensuring that individuals are held accountable for exploiting government programs and assistance programs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic," in a statement from the Illinois Attorney General's office.
Aside from diverting rent payments to her account, it is alleged that Harris managed to obtain two separate PPP loans totaling $41,007 by submitting fraudulent applications in February and May of 2021. She purportedly applied for and received an advance on a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) for a business that never was, further compounding her legal troubles with two counts of loan fraud and four counts of income tax fraud.
The case against Harris came to the surface following investigations by the CHA Inspector General’s office. The gravity of the charges reflects the extensive collaboration between the CHA, their Inspector General Kathryn Richards, and the Illinois Attorney General’s office. "The CHA Office of the Inspector General takes theft at CHA properties very seriously," Richards said. "We are grateful for the support of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in prosecuting these crimes and also for the assistance of CHA’s private property management firm, the Habitat Company, in working to ensure no CHA tenants were negatively affected," according to an article from the Illinois Attorney General's office.
Mara Somlo, Assistant Attorney General, is prosecuting the case for Raoul’s Public Integrity Bureau. As the process continues, it's emphasized that Harris is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court, a safeguard of the legal system that assures every accused person their fair day in court.
