Rockford Man Sentenced to Three Years in Federal Prison for Covid-Relief Fraud and Preparing False Tax Returns

ROCKFORD - A Rockford man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining Covid-relief loans and assisting in the preparation of false tax returns.

In 2020 and 2021, ABSALOM HALL engaged in fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), one of the sources of relief under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act. Hall submitted multiple PPP loan applications that contained materially false statements and misrepresentations about his purported businesses, including gross revenue, payroll needs, and operational expenses. As a result of the fraudulent applications, Hall obtained approximately $85,401 in PPP loans.

Hall also engaged in tax fraud by presenting himself as a tax preparer operating a purported business called "Lootland Tax Prep." Even though Hall did not have an IRS-issued tax ID number to prepare federal income tax returns for others, he nonetheless accepted compensation from clients in exchange for preparing their federal income tax returns. Hall did not report any income derived from this business on his 2021 or 2022 individual income tax returns.

Hall, 37, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to wire fraud, tax, and money laundering charges. On May 15, 2026, U.S. District Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins imposed the three-year prison sentence, entered a judgment against Hall of $85,401, and ordered him to pay $30,866 in restitution to the IRS.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Nicholas Bucciarelli, Acting Postal Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Megan Howell, Special Agent in Charge of the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General, and Adam Jobes, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Maveus.

"Absalom Hall exploited a program designed to help Americans survive an unprecedented crisis," said IRS SAC Jobes. "At a time when families and small businesses were fighting to stay afloat, Hall chose greed over integrity and stole from a system built to provide relief and stability. Even as the pandemic fades further into the past, IRS Criminal Investigation remains committed to identifying and bringing to justice individuals who abused these emergency programs for personal gain. Americans deserve accountability for those who treated a national emergency as an opportunity to enrich themselves."