CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A South Side woman was indicted Monday for allegedly fraudulently obtaining the personal identifying information of deceased individuals and using it to file for tax refunds and stimulus payments from the U.S. Treasury.
Katrina Pierce, 50, was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft, three counts of making false statements to the U.S. Small Business Administration and one count of possessing identification documents to defraud the United States.
According to the indictment, Pierce fraudulently requested and obtained death certificates for individuals from Illinois and several other states. She then used personal identifying information of deceased individuals to file false income tax returns with the IRS so that she could fraudulently obtain tax refunds and stimulus payments under the CARES Act, the indictment stated.
Pierce allegedly claimed a deceased boy as a dependent on her own tax return and attached to other false returns bogus birth certificates that falsely claimed deceased children as dependents. Amari Brown, the 7-year-old boy who was fatally shot in Humboldt Park in 2015, was one of the victims, according to the original complaint.
Pierce was also accused of fraudulently submitting applications to the SBA seeking loans under the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, a financial assistance program for small businesses suffering from a temporary loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pierce submitted false applications under her own name and under the names of other persons, including farmers and small business owners in Illinois and other states, whose personal identity information was unlawfully taken and used without their knowledge, the charges alleged.
The indictment described applications submitted by Pierce in which she fraudulently claimed to be the owner of a manufacturing business with 106 employees and a retail electronics business with 14 employees, with both businesses purportedly located at the same address — an apartment where Pierce was then residing.
Pierce was arrested on Sept. 14. An arraignment hearing is scheduled on Oct. 5.
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