CHICAGO – Seven Chicago-area residents have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly fraudulently obtaining at least $16 million in small business loans and grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act.
The defendants engaged in fraud related to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) – one of the sources of relief under the CARES Act, according to a 33-count indictment returned Wednesday in the Northern District of Illinois. Charged with wire fraud and money laundering are MAJA NIKOLIC, 34, of Brookfield, Ill., MARKO NIKOLIC, 34, of La Grange, Ill., NEBOJSA SIMEUNOVIC, 37, of Lyons, Ill., MIJAJLO STANISIC, 33, of Willowbrook, Ill., BRANKO ALEKSIC, 33, of Chicago, MILICA SUMAKOVIC, 31, of Chicago, and DORDE TODOROVIC, 32, of Chicago.
Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; R. Sean Fitzgerald, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Homeland Security Investigations; J. Russell George, Inspector General of the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA); Justin Campbell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago; and Hannibal Ware, Inspector General of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The government is represented by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Malgorzata Tracz Kozaka and Assistant…
