PEORIA, Ill. – Two Peoria residents are the latest to be indicted on federal charges of making false statements in order to get COVID-19 relief funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s office says a grand jury last week indicted 35-year-old brothers Eric and Derek Griffin. Both face multiple counts of Wire Fraud and Making False Statements.
Court documents claim the two both applied for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits for places in Georgia and New York they did not actually work at.
They also allegedly tried to get federal Payroll Protection Plan loans for businesses they didn’t actually operate. All the instances happened between July 2020 and July 2022, according to the indictments.
The Griffins are scheduled to be arraigned February 15th, but are currently not in custody.
CLICK HERE to read the indictment filed against Derek Griffin.
CLICK HERE to read the indictment filed against Eric Griffin (both PDF documents).
