Convicted fraudster ordered to prison

Insisting that "enough is enough," an agitated federal judge sent a woman who helped a Buffalo Grove man defraud his employer to prison Friday after the feds say she squandered thousands from a $150,000 COVID-19 loan.

Prosecutors said Crystal Lundberg used the money - meant for small businesses struggling through the pandemic - on travel and legal bills, electronics, clothing and other items while putting off her surrender date with the Federal Bureau of Prisons originally set for Jan. 20, 2020.

U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo sentenced Lundberg last December to more than four years in prison for wire fraud. Since the feds leveled their new allegations earlier this week, she has been held in custody at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, records show.

Lundberg, 34, has been in hot water with the feds since 2017, when she was first charged along with Buffalo Grove resident Scott Kennedy in a $5.79 million fraud scheme. The two met when Kennedy hired her as an escort. He later gave her access to his company's credit card, and she helped him rack up exorbitant charges on luxury goods and services.

Kennedy pleaded guilty, testified at Lundberg's trial about how he had fallen in love with her, and was sentenced in July to more than two years in prison.

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