A former top Chicago Public School official was charged with ripping off two pandemic relief programs, nearly three years after the school system found she had lied about her income in order to receive loans.
Crystal Cooper, the district’s former Chief Operating Officer, was among at least 14 CPS staffers who quit in 2023 after the district’s inspector general uncovered they had falsified information on applications for federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.
This May, Cooper was charged with three counts of wire fraud, according to a recently unsealed federal indictment.
Beginning in June 2020, Cooper applied for two federal loans through the PPP and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, according to the indictment. Those programs were intended to help small businesses survive the pandemic, but they were overrun with fraud.
Cooper is accused of lying about her income and the revenue she received from a side business that she’d never disclosed to CPS. She ultimately received over $28,000 in loans that she tapped for “her personal use and benefit,” according to the indictment. Like most of the country’s 11.4 million PPP loans, Cooper’s were forgiven and she didn’t have to pay anything back.
She pleaded not guilty during her first court appearance on July 23, court records show. She was released on a $10,000 bond and is expected in court again on August 27.
Her attorney, Andrew Erskine, declined to comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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