Free Republic

Illinois just gained another data point for its reputation for public corruption. New revelations found that nearly 400 state employees improperly obtained federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans intended to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic. PPP was created as part of the CARES Act to provide federally backed, forgivable loans to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was signed into law on March 27, 2020. According to the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General, investigators found “reasonable cause” in 378 PPP-fraud cases involving state workers through June 2025 — about three-quarters of all cases reviewed, the...

OAKLAND - A grand jury today voted to indict Yusuf Ali Bey IV, the scion of the defunct Your Black Muslim Bakery, for ordering the killings of journalist Chauncey Bailey and two other men in 2007, authorities familiar with the situation said. Prosecutors are likely to bring the case with special circumstances - allowing them to seek the death penalty against Bey IV, 23. He allegedly told two of his followers that in exchange for killing Bailey, he would teach them how to file fraudulent loan applications that could reap hundreds of thousands of dollars. Another man, Antoine Arelus Mackey,...