Suburban Chicago man who used COVID relief money to buy luxury cars sentenced

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced for fraudulently obtaining millions 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 U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

The backstory:

Prosecutors said Distefano and a co-defendant, Sargis Urumieh, took part in a scheme in 2020 and 2021 to get more than $3.3 million through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Both programs were created under the CARES Act to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pair submitted loan and grant applications that included false information about company operations, including employee numbers, revenue and payroll expenses. The loans were tied to two companies where Urumieh served as a corporate officer, along with a technology company owned and controlled by Distefano.

Distefano also collected more than $37,500 in unemployment benefits from the state of Illinois in his name and a relative's name while continuing to work and receive COVID loan proceeds, according to prosecutors.

He used the money to purchase luxury vehicles, including a Lamborghini Huracán, Maserati Ghibli, Land Rover Evoque SE and Porsche 911. The vehicles were later seized and forfeited.

What they're saying:

"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."

What's next:

Urumieh, 58, of Glendale, California, has also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and will be sentenced on July 22.