*The former food service director for the Harvey School District 152 in Illinois is accused of stealing $1.5M worth of chicken wings.
As WGN reports, Vera Liddell, 66, worked for the district for more than a decade, and during the COVID pandemic, she got the idea to steal frozen food from the impoverished school district.
It isn’t clear what she did with the products but officials suspect she sold the frozen wings.
“The massive fraud began at the height of COVID during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school,” reads a proffer presented at Liddell’s bond hearing. “Even though the children were learning remotely, the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up.”
According to court records, Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings from Gordon Food Service, the school district’s food provider, and she picked up the orders in a district cargo van.
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Vera Liddell allegedly stole $1.5M in chicken wings from Illinois schools https://t.co/EQ4P6I2NXU pic.twitter.com/Qfvu75qRMq
— New York Post (@nypost) February 1, 2023
“The food was never brought to the school or provided to the students,” reads the proffer. District funds were used to pay for the food, according to prosecutors.
An investigation uncovered surveillance video of Liddell arriving at Gordon Food Service to pick up cases of food. Prosecutors note that the school district doesn’t serve chicken wings because they contain bones.
Liddell was busted in January 2022 during a routine mid-year audit. That’s when the district’s business manager discovered the food service department was more than $300,000 over its annual budget.
“She discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” prosecutors said.
Liddell was charged with felony financial crimes enterprise and felony theft exceeding $1,000,000, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. She’s been released from jail on bond and her next court appearance is on Feb. 22, according to Inside Edition Digital.
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