Three men were indicted in an alleged scheme to fraudulently open credit cards in the names of recently deceased individuals, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, announced on Monday.

Roosevelt Garrett, 57, of Itasca, was charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of filing false corporate tax returns, and one count of failing to file an individual tax return.

His brother Torience Garrett, 53, of Bolingbrook, was charged with four counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, four counts of filing false corporate tax returns, and one count of money laundering.

The third man, Franklin Simmons, 64, of Chicago, is charged with three counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and two counts of filing a false individual tax return.

The office said the Garrett brothers allegedly schemed with Simmons to fraudulently obtain credit cards in the names of recently deceased people, including two former Illinois residents, according to the indictment. It is further alleged that the three men then made purchases for themselves without repaying the card companies.  

The indictment also stated that the men also charged the cards to alleged businesses they controlled, which allowed them to get cash from the cards.

The brothers were also charged with fraudulently obtaining small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and falsely claiming tax credits to which they were not entitled, the office said.

According to the indictment, in June 2020, the brothers submitted two fraudulent loan applications that contained false statements and misrepresentations—including employee count and gross revenues—for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program on behalf of business entities they allegedly owned and operated. They then used the funds to make cash withdrawals and transfers for personal use. 

The tax charges accused the brothers of misstating the number of employees and the wages allegedly paid by the alleged businesses. Additionally, Simmons fraudulently underreported to the IRS the income he derived from a fake business he controlled that he used in connection with the fraudulent credit card scheme.

The defendants were arraigned in federal court in Chicago and pleaded not guilty to the charges.  

A status hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.