Prairie State Wire

A federal grand jury in Chicago has indicted three individuals accused of fraudulently obtaining over $2 million in small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The indictment charges Tanika Echols, Antonio Echols, and Tamia Thompson Davis with offenses related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL).

According to the indictment returned in the Northern District of Illinois, Tanika Echols faces 13 counts of wire fraud and seven counts of money laundering. Her husband, Antonio Echols, is charged with three counts of wire fraud. Their daughter, Tamia Thompson Davis, is charged with four counts of wire fraud.

The defendants allegedly defrauded lenders out of approximately $1.7 million in PPP loans and obtained about $307,000 from the SBA through EIDL funds. The indictment states that much of this money was used for personal purchases such as mink coats from Andriana Furs in Chicago.

All three defendants pleaded not guilty during their arraignments before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert. A status hearing is set for August 13, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Durkin.

The announcement was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Basil Demczak, Special Agent-in-Charge at Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General; and Mark Reeves from the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elie Zenner represents the government.

The CARES Act provided PPP loans that could be forgiven if businesses used them on essential expenses like payroll or rent while EIDL offered loan assistance or grants for operating costs.

From 2020 to 2022, according to the indictment details provided by authorities involved in this case investigation process - more than 100 fraudulent applications were submitted by these defendants involving themselves along with other individuals plus two businesses owned jointly between both Tanika & Antonio which contained false statements regarding company operations such as employee numbers or revenue figures among others mentioned therein too!

It should be noted an indictment only contains charges but no proof yet established against those named within its pages thus far hence they remain presumed innocent unless proven otherwise beyond reasonable doubt per legal standards applied here accordingly! Each count carries significant potential penalties including up-to twenty years imprisonment upon conviction especially concerning wire-fraud cases whilst money-laundering offenses might lead towards ten-year sentences instead depending upon circumstances surrounding each specific instance respectively!

Individuals aware about any attempted COVID-19 related scams are urged contacting Department Of Justice via National Center For Disaster Fraud Hotline: 866-720-5721 alternatively filing complaints online through https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form