On Monday, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois stated that three men had been indicted in an alleged operation to fraudulently open credit cards in the names of recently dead individuals.
Roosevelt Garrett, 57, of Itasca, has been charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of submitting fraudulent corporation tax returns, and one count of failure to file an individual tax return.
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Torience Garrett, 53, of Bolingbrook, has been charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of fraudulent business tax forms, and one act of money laundering.
Franklin Simmons, 64, of Chicago, is accused of three charges of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and two counts of submitting a fraudulent individual tax return.
The Garrett brothers reportedly conspired with Simmons to fraudulently obtain credit cards in the identities of recently deceased individuals, including two former Illinois residents, according to the indictment. It is also alleged that the three guys made purchases for themselves without repaying the card company.
The indictment also stated that the men charged the cards to alleged businesses they owned, allowing them to withdraw cash from the cards.
The brothers were also charged with unlawfully receiving small company loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, as well as falsely claiming tax credits to which they were not eligible, according to the office.
According to the indictment, in June 2020, the brothers submitted two fraudulent loan applications to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program on behalf of business entities they allegedly owned and operated, including false statements and misrepresentations about employee count and gross revenues. They subsequently used the funds to extract cash and transfer it for personal purposes.
The tax accusations accused the brothers of misrepresenting the number of employees and wages purportedly paid by the putative enterprises. Furthermore, Simmons falsely underreported to the IRS the income he received from a fictitious business he controlled and used in conjunction with the fraudulent credit card scam.
The defendants appeared in federal court in Chicago and pled not guilty to the accusations.
The status hearing is scheduled for October 22.
