A suburban Chicago man was sentenced for unlawfully receiving millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds.
Francesco Distefano, 29, of west suburban Addison, was sentenced last week to 78 months — six and a half years — in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
According to prosecutors, Distefano and a co-defendant, Sargis Urumieh, participated in a conspiracy in 2020 and 2021 to obtain more than $3.3 million through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Both initiatives were established by the CARES Act to assist companies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pair submitted loan and grant applications that contained misleading information about the company’s activities, such as personnel counts, revenue, and payroll expenses. The debts were related to two firms where Urumieh worked as a corporate officer, as well as a technological company owned and controlled by Distefano.
Distefano also received more than $37,500 in unemployment benefits from the state of Illinois under his and a relative’s names while continuing to work and receiving COVID loan earnings, according to authorities.
He used the money to buy premium vehicles such as a Lamborghini Huracán, Maserati Ghibli, Land Rover Evoque SE, and Porsche 911. The automobiles were subsequently confiscated and forfeited.
“As the nation was struggling with the Covid pandemic, the defendant was scheming to defraud the PPP, EIDL, and unemployment programs,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell wrote to the judge before sentencing. “It was not the result of a momentary lack in judgment, but a continuing series of decisions, motivated by greed.”
Urumieh, 58, of Glendale, California, pled guilty to wire fraud and will be sentenced on July 22.
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