Source: Administrative Office of the United States Courts, District of Illinois
A Belleville woman, employed with the U.S. National Geospatial Agency, is now facing charges of defrauding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Felicia D. Harris, 44, finds herself indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of interstate transportation of a security obtained by fraud, with the allegations of misusing over $20,000 in federal funds.
The PPP, a relief measure from the U.S. Small Business Administration, was designed to support businesses crippled by the pandemic through forgivable loans. These funds were intended exclusively for operational costs such as payroll and facility expenses. Instead, Harris is accused of channeling $20,614 into personal coffers between February and May 2021. In a twist, she purportedly applied for loan forgiveness with misinformation and was approved, as stated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Illinois…