CHICAGO – The owner of a suburban tax preparation service has been charged in an alleged scheme to help hundreds of people fraudulently receive money from the federal government through COVID-19 relief programs.
Hadi Isbaih, 39, of Palos Heights, is accused of fraudulently assisting customers in obtaining millions of dollars in loans under The Cares Act.
Prosecutors believe his firm Flash Tax, which is based in Bridgeview, lied on paper work to secure the federal money.
Isbaih allegedly charged Flash Tax customers an upfront fee of approximately several hundred dollars before he submitted the fraudulent applications on their behalf, according to the indictment.
If the customers received the PPP or EIDL funds based on those applications, Isbaih allegedly charged the customers an additional fee of approximately $1,000.
He was charged with four counts of wire fraud.