Prairie State Wire

Three men from the Chicago area have been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly carrying out a scheme to open credit cards in the names of recently deceased individuals. According to an indictment filed in the Northern District of Illinois, Roosevelt Garrett and his brother, Torience Garrett, worked with Franklin Simmons to obtain credit cards using the personal information of deceased people, including two former Illinois residents. The indictment states that after acquiring these cards, the three made purchases for themselves and did not repay the credit card companies. They also charged expenses to business entities they controlled, converting proceeds from the fraud into cash.

The indictment further alleges that Roosevelt and Torience Garrett submitted fraudulent applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) under the CARES Act in June 2020. The applications reportedly included false statements about employee numbers and revenues of their purported businesses. The funds received were allegedly used for personal cash withdrawals and transfers rather than legitimate business operations.

In addition to these charges, both Garretts are accused of filing false corporate tax returns by misstating employee counts and wages paid by their companies. Simmons is also alleged to have underreported income on his individual tax returns related to an entity he used as part of the credit card scheme.

Roosevelt Garrett, 57, from Itasca, faces four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of filing false corporate tax returns, and one count of failing to file an individual tax return. Torience Garrett, 53, from Bolingbrook, is charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of filing false corporate tax returns, and one count of money laundering. Franklin Simmons, 64, from Chicago, is charged with three counts each of wire fraud and mail fraud as well as two counts of filing a false individual tax return.

All three defendants pleaded not guilty during their arraignment in federal court in Chicago. A status hearing is set for October 22, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.

The announcement was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge at IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago; with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Chicago. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Maione represents the government.

“The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Anyone who has information regarding attempted Covid-19-related fraud can contact the Department of Justice through its National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or submit an online complaint at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.