Chicago woman sentenced in $16M COVID-relief fraud scheme

CHICAGO - A Chicago woman was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain more than $16 million in small business loans and grants from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Milica Sumakovic, 33, was sentenced on April 25 and was ordered to pay $1.68 million in restitution to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

She pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge. Sumakovic was among seven defendants indicted in U.S. District Court in Chicago for participating in a scheme that submitted more than 300 fraudulent applications seeking over $40 million in benefits from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program. The EIDL program, established under the CARES Act, was intended to provide financial assistance to legitimate businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to prosecutors, Sumakovic and her co-conspirators claimed to own and operate various businesses in Illinois and Florida. Their applications and supporting documents contained false information about the companies, including the number of employees and revenue amounts. This scheme resulted in the SBA disbursing more than $16 million in fraudulent benefits.

Sumakovic personally submitted and assisted co-defendant Marko Nikolic in submitting 18 fraudulent applications seeking over $2.6 million in benefits.

Marko Nikolic, 36, of La Grange, and Branko Aleksic, 34, of Chicago, also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Nikolic was sentenced in January 2024 to four years and two months in prison and ordered to pay $6.9 million in restitution. Aleksic received a sentence of two years and eleven months in prison with $575,000 in restitution in November 2023.

The remaining four defendants – Maja Nikolic, 36, of Brookfield; Nebojsa Simeunovic, 38, of Lyons; Mijoajlo Stanisic, 34, of Willowbrook; and Dorde Todorovic, 33, of Chicago – are considered fugitives and believed to be residing overseas. Warrants for their arrests have been issued.

Anyone with information about attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it to the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or online at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.