Monday, March 20, 2023

Crain's: Angela Clay Has An Outstanding $18,450 IRS Lien Against Her

Angela Clay (right) seen here at her campaign kick off event (Facebook)
Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago

Angela Clay, the 46th Ward aldermanic hopeful who failed to disclose she operated a company that received nearly $42,000 in federal COVID-relief funds, also has something else in her financial record she hasn’t talked about: an outstanding $18,450 Internal Revenue Service lien against her According to an IRS lien that’s filed with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds’ office, in September of 2018 Clay was assessed $18,450 for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest. 


22 comments:

  1. Nice to know, but doubt it will make any difference to her supporters. Too late for dirt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. For those who don't subscribe to Crain's I'll post the story.

    I'll comment again later--maybe. I need to ask my accountant from Dewey Cheetam and Howe about this.


    Here's the Crain's story.



    Angela Clay, the 46th Ward aldermanic hopeful who failed to disclose she operated a company that received nearly $42,000 in federal COVID-relief funds, also has something else in her financial record she hasn’t talked about: an outstanding $18,450 IRS lien against her.

    According to an IRS lien that’s filed with the Cook County recorder of deeds, Clay was assessed $18,450 in September 2018 for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.



    Clay’s campaign is saying almost nothing about the matter. But in an email, her spokeswoman confirmed the lien is still outstanding, though steps to resolve it are "underway.”

    “The lien is in the process of being withdrawn,” the statement said. “This was in connection to a filing error. Angela has been working with an accountant to resolve the matter.”

    Asked whether the error was by Clay or the IRS, and whether it was in connection with hair products and child care companies that Clay has operated as a sole proprietor, the spokeswoman said Clay would have “no further comment.” Clay has described herself on the campaign trail and on her website as a community organizer.

    As previously reported, Clay, in her statement of economic interest filed with the Chicago Board of Ethics, failed to disclose she obtained nearly $42,000 in Payroll Protection Program loans for her company Pink Ribbon Hair. The loans were forgiven, according to federal records.

    Clay made “an honest mistake” in the failure to list Pink Ribbon Hair on her city disclosure, according to her spokeswoman, but did include the name of the company (though not the PPP income) on a separate statement filed with Cook County.

    Pink Ribbon Hair no longer exists, with Clay focusing on another company, Saij, which she recently formed in Delaware, her campaign says. But the campaign has conceded that Pink Ribbon, a sole proprietorship, should have been registered with Cook County, something that did not occur.


    Clay, a progressive running with the support of the Chicago Teachers Union and former 46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller, is running against Kim Walz, a political centrist backed by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Mike Quigley, all Democrats.

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  3. Hit job paid for by Kim Walz & her old tired white cronies.
    & of course, Cappleman's mouthpiece, Uptown Update, is happy to push it considering this stale "news" site endorsed Walz.
    Your days are coming to a close.
    Step aside & let some new thinking lead the charge.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the feedback, Ryne! Or should we say "Carl Collins?"

      Delete
    2. Pity there isn't an Uptown Uprising page. You screwed that up. Now you're stuck commenting here and on a mentally impaired artist's fake neighborhood Facebook page. Sad.

      Delete
    3. Is that Ryne?

      Would Ryne post this?

      "Hit job paid for by Kim Walz & her old tired white cronies.
      & of course, Cappleman's mouthpiece, Uptown Update, is happy to push it considering this stale "news" site endorsed Walz.
      Your days are coming to a close.
      Step aside & let some new thinking lead the charge."


      In any case like Bugs Bunny I'm on the case. Speaking of case I gotta case of imported beer sitting next to my feet. I'll be back in a few hours with what I find.

      I'm not that tired, but I plan to be good and drunk in a few hours as I search the net for information on Angela Clay.

      For the record I am white, but that's only a crime in Ryneville and I suggest Ryne and Angela batten down the hatches because once Bugs is on the case mayhem follows.

      Delete
    4. Ms. Clay should just ask Ms. Walz and her deep pocket supporters to pay it for her, and withdraw I guess. The Realtors alone have spent fourfold that amount to support Walz candidacy (not really - it's just a pro Vallas, pro cop, stay the course nothing should ever change message at this point - but they instead are negging the Clay campaign with both barrels) That doesn't even mention the PAC - how many hundreds of thousands will be spent to win this aldermanic seat?

      Delete
  4. One thing that just occurred to me is that I would have expected that the Federal government would have taken out any debt from the PPP loans before issuing the checks. Then again it was a "loan" and not "income".

    With loan forgiveness later I guess it was essentially income.

    I don't know. I didn't get 42K in PPP loans. Never occurred to me to claim to be a farmer as some of the folks in this Sun Times story did.

    Naturally as one would expect Chicago seems to have been the center of PPP loan fraud for the nation. Lots of farmers here in the city by the lake. The city on the make.



    https://chicago.suntimes.com/2023/1/27/23570903/ppp-paycheck-protection-program-covid-relief-fraud-homeless-gang-members-cps-employees-fintech

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  5. https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-ppp-fraud-cook-county-watchdog-20230105-37fkjmmtxvcfdb4owm7e6x4cri-story.html

    Maybe I'm not reading this correctly, but does this mean one needed to claim approximately 250K in gross receipts to get the approximately 42K in PPP loans Angela got?

    That a whole lot of gross receipts for a business she was presumably running out of an apartment.

    Now by nature I'm a loving and trusting guy, but this makes me suspicious. I feel like Bugs Bunny with a detective's cap and a magnifying glass.

    IRS liens, companies not registered. New companies registered in Delaware. No mention of this in her candidate biography. Failing to file forms in a timely manner.

    It's very interesting.

    The person who should most be annoyed with this besides Angela is Marianne Lalonde. If she had hired a research firm she could have brought all this out before the February election.

    This is all public information. I just looked and there are databases with the PPP loans and Angela's name and former address out there.
    This wasn't hard to find if someone skilled had looked. Even semi skilled like me. I'm annoyed I didn't look.

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  6. As I promised earlier in this thread let the mayhem begin.


    Clay's campaign posted this at Facebook.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/225767454780449/?multi_permalinks=1153969658626886%2C1153165562040629%2C1153231428700709%2C1153990058624846%2C1153179315372587&notif_id=1679323420879242&notif_t=group_highlights&ref=notif



    Neighbors For Angela Clay ·
    Britton Stotler Hey neighbor, would love to clear this up. I started a small business while in college that received government assistance during some of our toughest times of the pandemic. The article cited in Crains has all this information stated including the correct amount of loans, it wasn't $50,000 that you're quoting but unfortunately you'd have to get past their paid firewall to read all the truth. As you can see in the full body of the article, I made a small mistake on my city filing form, but everything on my county form is correct. As you can also see, there was in the past an issue with my taxes connected to a filing error that is in the process of being corrected, as you know, things with the IRS can take time. When I learned about this mistake I corrected it immediately. Glad to get the facts out there! I understand that with flashy headlines this can look concerning but when you get into it its really some boring/ complicated form related situations that are all resolved/ in the process of being resolved! I see you’ve commented on a number of our posts— sorry it took a sec to get back to you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Also in that thread some folks are posting stuff about her time running Voice of the People--low income housing provider in Uptown.

    Seems that outfit during her tenure ran deficits if you believe the posts.

    I'm still digging.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You've reached the nadir, IP. You can stop digging.
      Your well heeled Machine candidate has the endorsements of a United States Senator, a State Senator on record as being flummoxed why anyone wouldn't like Mike Madigan, a US rep, and every other pol save Cap, who lets his UU speak for him, same as it ever was.
      A PAC, for an aldermanic campaign? These are some deep pockets. I know that doesn't concern you, but it makes you look like a hypocrite.

      Delete
    2. Mwah? A hypocrite? As I sit here with my Grey Poupon and millions in uncashed PPP checks?

      Frankly,(Can I call you Frank?) we're all hypocrites at some level.

      It's just a question if most of us have had some "interesting" PPP loans and IRS judgements. Perhaps we're just jealous that Angela Clay has utilized the system better than most of the rest of us.

      As for the Walz's campaign she is pulling in the dough and the big time endorsements.

      Clay has seemingly hundreds of CTU/DSA volunteers and a boat load of union cash,

      That's politics.

      I'm done digging. I've offered to not release the information I found if the Clay campaign gives me a juicy consulting contract, but I want the money in a mayonaise jar under my front porch by high noon tomorrow. Next to the Funk and Wagnall's Encyclopedia I have under there. I'm also willing to not release it for a $2 Sonic coupon. Or so I'd have you believe, Frank.

      Somewhere the late comedian Johnny Carson is not happy.

      He probably wouldn't appreciate me butchering his gag.

      It's going to be an interesting two weeks.





      Delete
  8. As much as I'd like this story to have legs, I recall that Harold Washington got nailed for not filing tax returns for many years, even though he paid his taxes. That didn't seem to matter to voters at the time. AC seems to have a limited grasp of finances though, and there is clearly a pattern. Her response to a question (posed by someone from the 4th estate trying to do some due diligence) about the massive pension liabilities that various unions have incurred betrays this. Her response was basically - the tax payers can't be on the hook, so let the unions pound sand (I'm paraphrasing it, of course) but it betrays a real mis-understanding of how pensions are financed and the legal obligations to pay them. At the state level, it would require a Constitutional Amendment to change that, and the unions would not take that lying down. Also, for the various unions that operate in the city either as public employees or other, there are Federal laws that require that those pensions be more or less funded, and she ain't gonna tell the Feds to pound sand. It's too late probably to really expose that she's "all hat and no cattle" when it comes to this and other serious public policy issues, but if she wins, the city and the ward are going to have to bear the consequences and it won't be pretty - kind of a Lori Lightweight 2.0 in the works I fear.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Some questions that occur to me as I look around.

    1. Why did Angela Clay decided to update her campaign disclosures three weeks before the runoff? My best guesses.

    A. Someone tipped off Hinz and he started sniffing around. However, wouldn't he have mentioned that in his story in some obtuse way. "This reporter started asking questions and days later the Clay campaign updated her campaign disclosures."

    B. Someone tipped off the feds and they're sniffing around.

    C. Angela is just an honest person and realized her inadvertent error. I wouldn't bet a PPP loan on this being true.

    D. ?

    Then the questions become if there was tipping who did it. If it was the Walz campaign it's belated because if I ran that campaign I would have gotten that out there a few days after the February general elections.

    If the Walz campaign had this and sat on it then she needs to perform an attitude adjustment on her campaign staff.

    Now I do have suggestions for Angela Clay.

    If this isn't fraud and it's entirely legit keep running your campaign. You might win. I wouldn't bet on it now, but two weeks ago I would have said 50/50.

    If the feds come a knockin' the only proper response is "I want a lawyer." The second proper response is the same.

    Also if this was fraudulent Angela Clay should pray to whatever socialist Deity she believes in that she loses the election. My research shows over 11 Million individual PPP loans. Seemingly a double digit percentage are fraudulent.

    Feds don't have the resources to go after every questionable loan, but feds like headlines and elected officials, cops and celebrities make BIG targets. BIG. YUGE.

    Plus if it is fraudulent she can use campaign cash for her attorneys fees. Don't believe me? Ask Honest Ed Burke or Grift Free Mike Madigan about that. Save that cash for the attorneys.

    Also I know a Chicago criminal attorney who cuts great plea deals with the feds. Don't ask how.(shifty eye thing)

    The games afoot.

    ReplyDelete
  10. One more thing. There's a comment over on Facebook stating that Angela's PPP loans were taken at an address on an entirely vacant block on the south side. Not true. Simple google search shows a small greystone apartment building at that address.

    Facts matter. Lots of allegations flying around, but let's get it right. If you can't back up an allegation with proof just don't throw something out there. It doesn't help.

    If I post any "interesting" stuff over the next few days I'll include the links and the proof.

    That's how I roll. I'm a font of wisdom, truth and the American way.

    I'm like Elwood Blues searching for meaning in the soiled abyss that is modern Chicago. Sweet Home Chicago.

    ReplyDelete
  11. As I sit here and dig I just found this on Twitter from the Clay campaign. BTW I seriously doubt their internal polling shows that.

    Maybe I'm wrong. Seems to me that they're getting a bit scared. They should be. The end is nigh! Or maybe not.

    Perhaps this will all blow over and Angela Clay shall leads us for generations. I wouldn't bet on it though.


    Neighbors For Angela Clay
    @ClayFor46
    Hey fam, some of the talk about us out there is getting nasty. So it’s time for realtalk. Our internal polling shows us having a 9.6 point lead. We are winning this!
    5:43 PM · Mar 21, 2023
    ·
    4,255
    Views
    25
    Retweets
    2
    Quotes
    77
    Likes


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  12. If she is elected it will only show corruption from day 1

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  13. As I stated earlier regarding Covid relief fraud being the tallest tulip in the garden isn't a great idea.

    Maybe Angela's loans were legit and the paperwork was all in proper order. Maybe.

    Maybe I'm a backup singer in the E Street Band. Maybe.

    https://news.yahoo.com/dont-gay-lawmaker-pleads-guilty-224838358.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just searched Facebook for some stuff related to Angela.

    Two things.

    1. "Filing Error" should be her band name

    2. Whole lot of people are trying to downplay her IRS Lien by comparing it to student loan debt or any other type of debt. It's fundamentally different, but that's not likely to be the biggest issue for her. It's the PPP loans that may cause her more than just say internet ennui and heartburn.

    It smells worse than a Forest Preserve outhouse and no amount of dodging and trying to evade the questions will cover that stink up.

    With that I bid you all a good night and good morning.

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  15. All excess "wordage" aside......it only stands to reason that supporters of a questionable candidate shall ALWAYS downplay any improprieties of that candidate. Been that way forever, right or wrong.....Left or Right. PERIOD.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This is from the original Crain's story.

    I clearly should have spent more time reading "carefully".

    "A candidate in the 46th Ward aldermanic runoff has filed a revised statement of economic interest with the Chicago Board of Ethics AFTER Crain's asked why she apparently failed to disclose nearly $42,000 in federal Payroll Protection Program loans to a hair-products firm she owned."

    That explains her "filing error" and the late correction.

    ReplyDelete