In a legal turn of events that's bound to send ripples through the Chicago business community, a federal grand jury in Chicago just indicted local business owner Steven Cordell for a suite of tax-related offenses, wire fraud, and false statements on a loan application, according to the Justice Department. Cordell, of Starfish Transportation Inc., is accused of withholding taxes from employee wages between 2018 and 2024 but failing to pass those funds to the IRS in their entirety.
High on the list of allegations, Cordell is charged with submitting false financial info in applications to the Paycheck Protection Program and the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services, both lifesavers for many during the pandemic; he reportedly concealed Starfish Transportation's previous PPP loan in the CERTS grant application and is alleged to have bagged $247,822.51 in PPP loans and $598,574.21 in CERTS grants under false pretenses. His actions have purportedly resulted in a tax loss of more than $600,000 for the IRS, with corporate tax returns for his company going unfiled for four consecutive years from 2019 to 2023.
The weight of Cordell's potential punishments is substantial; if convicted on all counts, he could face up to 30 years for the false loan application, 20 years for wire fraud, a five-year prison term for the employment tax issues, and one year for each failure to file tax returns—a manifold legal challenge for the man whose transportation business served Chicago's students.
IRS Criminal Investigation and the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General are behind the investigation Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg shed light on the indictment, but it's crucial to remember that an indictment is not a conviction, and Cordell, like anyone charged under U.S law, is seen as innocent until proven guilty, a principle that is the bedrock of our legal system, these are just allegations at this stage, and it will be up to a court of law to determine the truth of the matter.
