Illinois Tax Preparer Sentenced to 36 Months for Nearly 700 Fraudulent Unemployment Claims in $11 Million Scheme
CHICAGO — The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Hiam Hmaidan, 54, a tax preparer from Orland Park, Illinois, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release for running a multi-million-dollar pandemic assistance and unemployment benefits scheme. She was also ordered to pay $11,130,490 in restitution and a forfeiture money judgment of $1,965,712.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from May 2020 and continuing through December 2022, Hmaidan and her co-conspirators submitted nearly 700 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims against the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, which Congress established in 2020 as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), causing more than $11 million in fraudulent unemployment benefits to be disbursed. Hmaidan abused her position as a tax preparer by submitting many of the fraudulent claims using her clients' names and personal information. The benefits were loaded onto debit cards mailed directly to Hmaidan or to addresses accessible to her and her co-conspirators, who used the cards to withdraw approximately $2.8 million in cash from ATMs near where they lived.
In May 2026, a federal jury convicted Hmaidan of one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and five counts of mail fraud. "Hiam Hmaidan exploited a pandemic relief program designed to help workers and families in need, causing more than $11 million in fraudulent benefits to be paid," said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division. "This sentence reflects the seriousness of her crimes."
The U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and IRS-Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Meredith B. Healy, of the Criminal Division's White Collar and Corporate Enforcement Section, and Kashan Pathan and Christopher Berridge of the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Public Trust and Financial Integrity Section prosecuted the case.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部大楼（四级图库联邦核心包固定图）。 / Image: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters (fixed image from the federal core asset pack).
