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Illinois Dem Sen Dick Durbin claims son victim of stolen identity in PPP loan fraud case

September 20, 2022 | | Print Article

While most Americans have moved on from the pandemic, investigations into the decisions made, including the allocation of billions of dollars, have in many ways barely begun.

Now, a few weeks after a report came out showing how numerous wealthy and well-connected individuals were able to take advantage of fully forgiven loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) claimed his son was a victim of identity theft and had nothing to do with a default of $140,000 in handouts.

In a move seemingly meant to encourage compliance as the nation was forced into lockdown through draconian policies only meant to last “two weeks to slow the spread,” the federal government moved to dole out hundreds of billions of dollars through the readily manipulated PPP. While speaking with reporters Monday on a particular use of funds that he found unsavory, Fox News reported that Durbin used his own son as an example of why there needs to be more oversight of where those monies went.

“I think a lot of money was wasted and stolen,” he suggested before bringing up his son Paul, seemingly unprompted.

“I have a family example where my son was accused of defaulting on a $140,000 PPP loan for the Durbin construction company,” the senator claimed. “There’s no Durbin construction company. Somebody had stolen his identity and secured $140,000 loan.”

In August, reports showed that many affluent individuals like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, and rapper Kanye West had benefited from forgiven PPP loans for multi-million dollar sums despite their considerable wealth. As their lives remained relatively unaffected by the lockdowns, millions who were denied such loans and did not have theirs forgiven cried foul.

While Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz who chairs the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee has suggested PPP loan fraud could amount to over $100 billion, Durbin’s suggestion that his son was somehow a victim of identity theft raised many eyebrows as to why he would make such an argument now.

It remains to be seen if any further developments arise from Durbin’s claim that his son had not, in fact, sought a PPP loan, but what is known is that the Illinois lawmaker had been attempting without irony to argue against government waste.

Specifically, he was targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the state’s legislature had deemed it appropriate to use the $12 million in accrued interest from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund to move illegal aliens out of the Sunshine State.

As DeSantis said during a press conference on the transport of 50 illegals to Martha’s Vineyard, “The legislature gave me $12 million. We’re going to spend every penny of that to make sure that we’re protecting the people of the state of Florida.”

That was not a valid way to look out for the people, as Durbin saw it, when he told reporters, “He’s moving people from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. For goodness’ sake that money should be spent at least for the people of Florida and for a good purpose.”

Kevin Haggerty
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