Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul made headlines as he secured a guilty plea from a former Illinois Tollway employee on counts of fraudulently siphoning state funds. According to an announcement from the Attorney General's office, Marcus Smith, 46, from Bellwood, Illinois, entered a guilty plea for a Class 1 felony charge of theft of governmental property. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Stanley Sacks sentenced Smith to pay almost $50,000 in restitution and served him a 24-month stint on second chance probation.
Caught red-handed, Smith, while employed by the Illinois Tollway, claimed to own a business and applied for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 crisis. As reported by the Attorney General's office, Smith deceitfully stated he was the sole employee and managed to bag loans tallying roughly $49,999 in 2021.
"I am pleased we are holding an individual accountable for taking advantage of assistance programs intended for struggling business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic," Raoul stated. He continued to pledge vigilance and justice for taxpayers when public servants or others take advantage of critical aid programs for personal gain. These remarks came after Smith also admitted to fraudulently landing a rent relief grant of about $18,950 by falsely claiming a family tenant failed to pay rent, a tenant who happens to have pocketed half of that grant money.
This turn of events came to light following a referral of Smith's case by the Illinois Tollway – Office of the Inspector General to the Attorney General’s office. Caught in a web of his own making by claiming his tenant did not pay rent during the pandemic, the investigation revealed Smith's tenant was a family member who received a slice of the relief fund, precisely $9,500. Deputy Bureau Chief Jonas Harger of Raoul’s Public Integrity Bureau was credited with prosecuting this case, underscoring the state's intolerance for such fraudulent endeavors.
