United States v. William Frederick Reed

Case summary

William Frederick Reed, 41, of Hazel Crest, Illinois, is charged in an indictment in the Northern District of Illinois with making false statements in SBA loan applications, bankruptcy fraud and tax offenses. An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt, and he is presumed innocent.¹

The indictment says he worked as a police officer in Dolton and Robbins, Illinois, and was also self-employed as a security guard. It alleges that in 2020 and 2021 he applied for and obtained three PPP loans using inflated and falsified average monthly payrolls for the "off duty security" job.¹

In 2022, Reed filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago. The indictment alleges that during the bankruptcy case he made false statements and provided false documents to conceal his receipt of the PPP loans. It also alleges that he submitted a fraudulent 2021 individual income tax return so that the U.S. Trustee, the Chapter 7 Trustee and his creditors would not inquire further into his financial affairs. Separate tax charges accuse him of underreporting income and falsifying withholdings on that 2021 return, and failing to file any individual returns for 2022 or 2023.¹

The indictment was announced with IRS Criminal Investigation, the SBA's Office of Inspector General, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the U.S. Trustee Program. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason A. Julien and Hayley L. Altabef and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Netols represent the government.¹

Notes

1. U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, "Suburban Chicago Police Officer Charged With Covid-Relief Fraud" (original), April 23, 2025. ↩₁ ↩₂ ↩₃ ↩₄

Summary written from the documents on this page; every sentence is sourced.