Eight more Chicago police officers now face dismissal for fraudulently obtaining federal Paycheck Protection Program loans during the pandemic, City Hall’s inspector general announced Wednesday.
The officers falsified statements on government documents to obtain a total of $282,639 in federal funds intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, according to Inspector General David Glockner’s first quarterly report.
Glockner stepped into the watchdog role in April, succeeding succeeding Deborah Witzburg. Witzburg, now chief of staff to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, previously issued reports showing a total of 28 other cops had bilked the PPP program, which was rife with fraud.
The eight officers highlighted in Wednesday’s report are accused of breaking the law, making false statements and discrediting the police department, among other things. Their names weren’t released.
The inspector general’s office urged the police department to fire the cops and place them on the city’s do-not-hire list. The department “preliminarily” agreed, the inspector general’s office said.
The inspector general’s office is still investigating dozens of police officers and other city employees accused of illegally obtaining pandemic relief funds, the report shows.