A southwest suburban tax preparer is accused of bilking two federal aid programs borne of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago.
Hadi Isbaih, 39, of Palos Heights filed fraudulent documents to obtain loans under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, act, according to prosecutors.
An indictment against Isbaih charging him with four counts of wire fraud was announced Tuesday.
He was due to have an initial court appearance that day but court records show a warrant being issued for him.
The indictment alleges Isbaih, through a Bridgeview company he operated, Flash Tax Service Inc., applied for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which were under the umbrella of the broader CARES stimulus package.
From April to October of last year, Isbaih is alleged to have submitted applications on behalf of hundreds of Flash Tax customers, with documents containing false information regarding the customers’ businesses, such as gross revenues, expenses and numbers of employees, according to prosecutors.
Flash Tax customers were charged several hundreds of dollars in upfront fees in order to submit the applications and, if loans were approved, Isbaih charged those customers an additional fee of about $1,000, according to the indictment.
mnolan@tribpub.com
