Attorney General Kwame Raoul has successfully secured a plea and restitution from a Chicago woman involved in COVID-19 relief fund fraud, his office announced. Tina Tzoumas, aged 39, entered a guilty plea to a Class 1 felony count of identity theft relating to bogus pandemic unemployment claims and a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for a non-existent business.
After admitting to the fraud, Tzoumas returned over $100,000—$108,145 to be exact—to state and federal agencies. Having stolen identities to falsely claim unemployment benefits, Raoul's office confirmed that Tzoumas paid $90,645 to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) and $17,500 to the U.S. Small Business Administration, as reported on April 22nd, 2025. In addition to returning the stolen funds, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Adrienne E. Davis slapped her with four years of felony probation.
In a statement concerning the case, Raoul emphasized the severity of such crimes, especially in a time when those relief funds were a lifeline for many. "During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were counting on the government's relief programs to provide for themselves and their families, some individuals were abusing those same programs for their own financial gain," Raoul said. His commitment "to holding accountable those who used the pandemic to steal from the people of Illinois" stands firm with these actions.
The charges against Tzoumas stemmed from fraudulent activities conducted between June 2020 and June 2021. In addition to using stolen personal information to make several IDES claims, she also secured thousands of dollars through a PPP loan using her own information for a business that didn't exist. Assistant Attorney General Samantha Cain led the case's prosecution for Raoul's Special Prosecutions Bureau, as part of ongoing efforts by the Attorney General's office to prosecute and refer individuals involved in similar fraudulent activities, stealing government assistance related to the pandemic, to the appropriate state’s attorneys for further evaluation.
