15 accused of defrauding insurance agencies

Fifteen people are accused of bilking unemployment insurance agencies in Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota out of nearly $9 million by setting up more than 80 fictitious companies.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago on Wednesday named Jacqueline Kennedy of Country Club Hills as lead defendant. The 39-year-old is charged with multiple counts, including fraud, filing false claims for tax refunds and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors alleged the suspects registered fictitious employers to fraudulently collect benefits from the states.

They stole their clients’ identities to file the claims, authorities said, and sometimes clients agreed and shared the proceeds.

A conviction on just one fraud count carries a maximum 20-year prison term.

A number for a Jacqueline Kennedy in Country Club Hills was unlisted, and a message left Wednesday with her company’s Chicago office wasn’t returned.