BELLWOOD, Ill. — A former Illinois Tollway employee has been ordered to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution for stealing thousands of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marcus Smith, a 46-year-old Bellwood resident who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft of governmental property, was ordered to pay back nearly $50,000 in restitution and was sentenced to 24 months of second-chance probation, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Thursday.
Prosecutors said during the COVID-19 pandemic, while working for the Illinois Tollway, Smith conducted a scheme to fraudulently obtain two PPP loans by falsely claiming that he owned a business…