Federal Judge Sentences Suburban Chicago Man to Six and a Half Years in Prison for $3.3 Million COVID-Relief Fraud
Summary
SBA OIG news release published March 23, 2026, reproducing a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois. It announces that a suburban Chicago man, Francesco Distefano, was sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison over more than $3.3 million in small business loans and grants under the CARES Act. According to the release, in 2020 and 2021 Distefano and co-defendant Sargis Urumieh applied for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and EIDL loans and grants with false statements about employees, gross revenues and payroll. The release says Distefano also collected more than $37,500 in Illinois unemployment benefits while receiving the loan proceeds.
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OIG news release Federal Judge Sentences Suburban Chicago Man to Six and a Half Years in Prison for $3.3 Million COVID-Relief Fraud Published on March 23, 2026 by Office of Inspector General Click Here to Sign Up for SBA OIG Email Updates on Recent Investigative Cases, Audit Oversight Reports, and General News Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for scheming to fraudulently obtain more than $3.3 million in small business loans and grants under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Under the leadership of United States Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and consistent with the Administration’s priorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute criminal fraud in the federal government entitlement and benefit programs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois is taking a fresh look at Covid-19 fraud. In 2020 and 2021, FRANCESCO DISTEFANO and a co-defendant, SARGIS URUMIEH, engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), two sources of relief under the CARES Act. The pair applied for and obtained loans and grants for two companies where Urumieh served as a corporate officer. Distefano also applied for and obtained loans for a technology company that he owned and controlled. The applications contained numerous false statements and misrepresentations regarding the companies’ operations, including the number of employees, gross revenues, and payroll expenses. As a result of the fraud, Distefano and Urumieh caused a loss to the federal government of more than $3.3 million. Distefano also fraudulently collected more than $37,500 in unemployment benefits from the state of Illinois in his name and the name of a relative while simultaneously receiving the Covid-relief loan proceeds and continuing to work for his technology company. Distefano used his Covid-relief and unemployment fraud proceeds to purchase, among other things, a Lamborghini Huracan, Maserati Ghibli, Land Rover Evoque SE, and Porsche 911, all of which were seized by law enforcement and forfeited to the government. Distefano, 29, of Addison, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to a federal wire fraud charge. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jeremy C. Daniel sentenced Distefano to 78 months in federal prison. Urumieh, 58, of Glendale, Calif., also pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge. Urumieh is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Daniel on July 22, 2026, at 4:00 p.m. U.S. Attorney Boutros announced Distefano’s sentence along with Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Adam Jobes, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Brett Lehnert, Acting Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General. “As the nation was struggling with the Covid pandemic, the defendant was scheming to defraud the PPP, EIDL, and unemployment programs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Snell argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum in Distefano’s case. “It was not the result of a momentary lack in judgment, but a continuing series of decisions, motivated by greed.” Anyone with information about suspected Covid-19 fraud can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by submitting an online complaint here . Related programs: COVID EIDL, Pandemic Oversight, PPP
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