Illinois Business Owner Indicted for Tax Crimes

A federal grand jury in Chicago returned an indictment yesterday charging an Illinois business owner for not paying employment taxes, not filing business tax returns, wire fraud and making false statements on a loan application.

According to the indictment, Steven Cordell, of Chicago, was the owner and operator of Starfish Transportation Inc., which provided transportation services to students in the Chicago area. He was allegedly responsible for withholding Social Security, Medicare and income taxes from his employees' wages and paying those funds over to the IRS each quarter. For certain quarters from 2018 through 2024, Cordell allegedly withheld taxes from employees' wages, as required, but did not pay over the full amount withheld to the IRS.

The indictment further alleges that Cordell submitted on his business's behalf false applications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) program, two programs created to provide financial assistance to Americans suffering economic harm because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In both, he allegedly submitted unfiled tax returns and provided false financial data. In addition, Cordell allegedly did not disclose that Starfish Transportation had received a PPP loan on the CERTS grant application, as required. The indictment alleges that Cordell received $247,822.51 in fraudulent PPP loans and $598,574.21 in fraudulent CERTS grants.

Finally, the indictment alleges Cordell intentionally did not file corporate income tax returns for Starfish Transportation for 2019 through 2023.

In total, Cordell is alleged to have caused a tax loss to the IRS of over $600,000.

If convicted, Cordell faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for filing a false loan application, a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for wire fraud, a maximum penalty of five years in prison for not paying employment taxes and a maximum penalty of one year in prison for each charge of failure to file returns. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department's Tax Division made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation and the Small Business Administration's Office of Inspector General are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Regina Jeon and Thomas Flynn of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.