Cook County man who faked businesses for COVID relief cash sentenced to prison

NILES, Ill. - A Cook County man was sentenced to prison earlier this month for scamming his way into more than $1.5 million in small business loans through the CARES Act.

Feroz Jalal, 51, of Niles, pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud and money laundering charges.

The backstory:

Over five months in 2021, Jalal and his co-conspirators submitted fraudulent applications for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided low-interest, government-backed loans to help small businesses recover from revenue losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors said Jalal submitted at least a dozen PPP loan applications to lenders and the SBA, claiming to represent businesses he and others allegedly owned.

The applications included false information about the businesses' employees, revenues, expenses and operational status. Jalal also provided fake IRS tax filings and fabricated spreadsheets to support the fraudulent claims.

In total, Jalal and his co-schemers sought $1.792 million in PPP loans, resulting in lenders disbursing $1.644 million.

What's next:

A judge sentenced Jalal to five years and two months in federal prison, and he was ordered to repay over $1.5 million to the SBA.