As If Underfunding Public Pensions Is Not Enough…

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reveals a village police pension fund treasurer has looted it:

Sauk Village Treasurer Charged with Stealing More Than $21,000 from Police Pension Fund

CHICAGO — The treasurer of south suburban Sauk Village was arrested today for allegedly looting the village’s Police Pension Fund out of more than $21,000.

JAMES GRIEGEL, 71, of Sauk Village, is charged with embezzlement in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  Federal authorities arrested Griegel this morning.  He made an initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez and was ordered released on a personal recognizance bond.

The complaint alleges that Griegel fraudulently issued pension fund checks to himself and forged the names of Sauk Village officials as signatories.

Griegel listed the names of conferences and seminars on the memorandum lines of the checks to falsely make the payments appear to have been business related, according to the complaint.

Griegel then cashed the checks and used the money for his own benefit, including making purchases at

  • gas stations
  • rental car locations
  • restaurants
  • storage facilities

the complaint states.

Zachary Fardon

Zachary Fardon

Griegel worked as the village’s treasurer from May 2013 until January 2016, when he was suspended from the post.  He issued the checks over a ten-month period from April 2015 to January 2016, according to the complaint.

The embezzlement charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and restitution is mandatory.

The arrest was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and John F. Oleskowicz, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, Chicago Field Office.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sunil Harjani.


Comments

As If Underfunding Public Pensions Is Not Enough… — 6 Comments

  1. Bigger government leaves more room for fraud.

    And Jack Franks plus Local 150 members are upset over the Board IMRF and a meeting?

  2. Jack comes tumbling down the hill, or am I just to old to remember?

  3. As the mob continually hikes the protection payment, if the shop owner eventually cannot or refuses to fully fund the hiked payment, the mob can claim the shop owner is underfunding the protection payment.

    —————

    The municipal Treasurer who committed the greatest municipal fraud in US history, over $50 million, is Rita Crundwell of Dixon, Illinois, who was also the Comptroller.

    Most of that money was recovered by selling Crundwell assets.

    —————

    Superintendent Thomas Ryan of CCSD 168, and elementary school district in Sauk Village, served three years or so in prison for stealing money from the district to fund his kids college education, shaking down employees for a kick back of a portion of the bonus he granted them, and other financial wrongdoings.

  4. And that’s Michigan!

    Imagine how much higher Illinois is for the extreme gulf they are digging for us.

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