A Chicago police sergeant has been charged with wire fraud after she allegedly stole thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief aid, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Brandi Wright, 44, is accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $41,000 through a federal pandemic relief fund program meant to keep small businesses afloat for a bakery she claimed to own but that didn’t actually exist, according to a criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Monday.
Per Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board records, Wright is a 20-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, joining the force in May 2006. In response to questions over whether Wright, as she faces litigation, remains on active duty, a CPD spokesperson stated that the “officer is currently assigned to unit 620 — Detectives” and deferred comment to the U.S. attorney’s office. The spokesperson did not immediately return a request for clarification on Tuesday afternoon.
Wright could not be reached for comment.
The Paycheck Protection Program was created during President Donald Trump’s first term under the Coronavirus Air, Relief and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act. It was administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration to support small businesses negatively affected by the pandemic.
Sole proprietorships and self-employed people were eligible for the loans to help cover payroll, insurance, rent, utilities and other business expenses as the economy slowed significantly during the pandemic.
Applicants had to submit tax records or other documentation to establish eligibility, including proof of qualifying payroll or, later, gross income. Loans could be forgiven if at least 60% of the funds were used for payroll and for qualifying expenses.
The speed and scale of the program, however, made it vulnerable to abuse. An SBA inspector general report a few years ago estimated that as much as $64 billion in PPP loans nationwide may have been improperly paid.
Last December, a report by the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General revealed that hundreds of government employees investigated by the state had acquired PPP loans based on falsified information.
From April through August 2021, Wright “participated in a scheme to defraud, and to obtain money and property, in connection with applications for PP funds,” Monday’s filing alleges. That scheme, federal prosecutors say, involved two PPP loan applications filed “on behalf of a business and entity purportedly owned and operated by Wright that did not exist.” Those loans totaled $41,662, per the criminal information.
Federal prosecutors allege that while Wright requested funds under the pretense that they would be used only for business-related purposes, she intended to use the loans for her personal use and benefit, including “to pay personal credit card debt, purchase personal goods and services and make cash withdrawals.”
Wright’s applications, prosecutors further accuse, contained materially false statements and misrepresentations about her purported business, including gross revenue, payroll needs and operations expenses. She allegedly claimed that her business generated nearly $100,000 in gross income in 2020 and that the loan funds would be used to cover payroll costs.
Wright’s arraignment had not yet been scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
The Chicago Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner and A.D. Quig contributed.
