Six current, former U.S. Postal employees accused of collecting fraudulent unemployment benefits, business loans

CHICAGO (CBS) — Six recent and former U.S. Postal Provider staff members have been billed with fraudulently getting loans for enterprises that did not really exist.

The 6 defendants had been billed as element of an investigation by the Illinois Legal professional General’s Taskforce on Unemployment Gains Insurance plan Fraud. They all applied for a variety of federal government financial loans and guidance through the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance to the Lawyer General’s office.

In addition to attempting to get loans from the Tiny Enterprise Administration for corporations that ended up not authentic, 4 of the defendants are accused of submitting for fraudulent unemployment gains even though they had been really working for the Postal Assistance all along.

The defendants are:

• Davonte Kendall, 30, of Lansing
• Bria Taylor, 27, of Berwyn
• Imani Butler, 29, of Dixmoor
• Raven Daniel, 28, of Bellwood
• Louis K. Lay, Jr., 32, of Chicago
• Erica M. Beck, 34, of Chicago.

Amongst them, the six defendants are billed with a lot more than 65 felony counts – which includes theft by deception, state advantages fraud, bank loan fraud, wire fraud, and forgery.

Lay and Beck – who are married to just about every other and both equally still operate for the Postal Company – are also charged with scheming to steal $25,000 in economic effects payments from citizens in the South Shore community.

The Attorney General’s business started investigating when the Postal Service’s Place of work of the Inspector Standard claimed that some employees ended up accumulating unemployment even though doing the job and getting compensated by the Postal Support. A joint federal and point out investigation adopted.