(The Center Square) – A Vienna, Illinois man has pleaded guilty to defrauding Johnson, Hardin and Pope counties out of more than $100,000 while he was employed as the Johnson County 911 administrator.
Prosecutors from the Illinois Attorney General’s office said Justin Vaughn, 43, submitted fraudulent invoices for 911 system equipment that was never delivered and received more than $690,000 in fraudulent reimbursement payments from 2017 to 2023.
SEPARATE RENTAL ORDINANCES RECOMMENDED TO CHICAGO COUNCIL
The Chicago city council could vote on two separate rental housing ordinances at its next full meeting on Wednesday.
The council’s committee on zoning, landmarks, and building standards approved the Fair and Accountable Illinois Rental Ordinance on Thursday, a day after the housing and real estate committee passed Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Protecting Renters Ordinance.
Chicagoland Apartment Association Executive Vice President Michael Mini said the FAIR ordinance avoids some of the unnecessary costs and regulatory burdens included in the PRO proposal.
IDFPR ORDERS RESTITUTION FROM STUDENT LOAN DEBT RELIEF COMPANIES
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has taken action against two companies that allegedly provided unlicensed student loan debt relief.
IDFPR entered a consent order with Consulting Cafe, LLC DBA Smartfile Services, under which the company is prohibited from engaging in student loan debt relief services in Illinois and is required to provide full restitution of $47,929.44 to affected Illinois consumers.
The company is also required to pay a $50,000 penalty.
IDFPR also issued a cease and desist order, order of restitution and order of fine against Capital Core Advisors, LLC for unlicensed conduct and other violations of the Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act.
If the order becomes a final administrative order, the company will be required to cease and desist unlicensed activity, provide restitution to Illinois consumers of more than $79,500 and pay a $318,000 fine.
ST. LOUIS FED REPORTS HIGHER MORTGAGE RATES
The average fixed 30-year mortgage rate rose to 6.95% in the week ending Sept. 17, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The average fixed 15-year mortgage rate increased to 6.26%.
ILLINOIS RANKS 42ND ON ELECTION INTEGRITY SCORECARD
Illinois is tied with New York for 42nd place in Heritage Foundation’s latest election integrity scorecard.
The updated report released earlier this month gave Illinois zero out of a possible 13 points for citizenship verification.
Illinois got zero out of a possible three points for election litigation procedures, restriction of same-day registration, restriction of automatic registration, restriction of private funding of election officials or government agencies, and restriction of foreign funding for state ballot measures or referendums.
Illinois received 16 out of 21 points for accuracy of voter registration lists.
Tennessee ranked first on the scorecard. Indiana ranked 7th, Missouri 8th, Iowa tied for 9th, Kentucky tied for 14th, and Wisconsin 17th. Hawaii finished last, just below California.
