Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a Cook County woman was ordered to pay more than $41,000 in restitution for income tax fraud from thousands of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic by falsely claiming that she owned aa business while employed by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS). 

Michelle Barnes-Kendall, 56 of Chicago, was sentenced by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Steven Watkins to pay full restitution after pleading guilty to Class 4 felony income tax fraud. Barnes-Kendall was also sentenced to 24 months of second chance probation and 30 hours of community service. 

“Paycheck Protection Program loans were intended for struggling business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is unacceptable that anyone would take advantage of this crucial assistance program,” Raoul said. “I will continue to hold individuals, especially government workers, accountable if they exploited critical aid programs for their own financial benefit.”  

The case was referred to the Attorney General’s office by the Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General. Barnes-Kendall was employed as a child support specialist at HFS when she applied for two PPP loans and falsely stated she was the owner, operator and sole employee of a beauty salon. She received the loans in 2021, which totaled approximately $41,666. In order to obtain the loans, Barnes-Kendall claimed she made money from that business on federal tax documents despite never reporting that profit to the Illinois Department of Revenue on her personal tax forms. 

Assistant Attorney General Tori Whitman prosecuted the case for Raoul’s Criminal Prosecutions and Trial Assistance Bureau.