South Holland woman sentenced to 2 years for PPP loan fraud, rent theft

A South Holland was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing nearly $20,000 in rent payments from public housing tenants and more than $40,000 in federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Delvya Harris, 32, pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge after an investigation by the Chicago Housing Authority’s inspector general’s office.

“I am pleased to see an individual held accountable for taking advantage of tenants and the public by stealing public funds for personal financial gain,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Monday.

Harris was working for the Habitat Co. as an assistant community manager at the CHA’s Trumbull Park Homes in South Deering when she stole 50 money orders worth a total of $18,125 and deposited them into her personal account between December 2022 and March 2023. Prosecutors said that, in some instances, she gave the checks to her significant other to cash.

In February and May 2021, Harris received more than $41,000 in PPP loans and received an advance on a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan — both for businesses that did not exist, prosecutors said.

She was fired in early 2023, and the CHA said it worked with Habitat to ensure that all tenants were credited for their payments despite the theft.

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