EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - An East St. Louis businessman earning what investigators call "significant income" is accused of using jobless benefits to pay tabs in Costa Rica at a Hooters restaurant and a hotel. James Quirin of Manchester, Mo., was charged Friday in federal court in East St. Louis with theft of government money through his misuse of a debit card given to people collecting unemployment benefits. Authorities say Quirin charged his Hooters tab and hundreds of dollars in hotel expenses to the debit card in March 2010. The criminal complaint alleges Quirin was working for an excavating firm and fraudulently got more than $44,000 in federally subsidized unemployment benefits. Quirin couldn't be reached for comment Monday. He doesn't have a listed telephone number, and court records don't list an attorney for him. - http://goo.gl/LLjmS
