Vera Liddell allegedly exploited her role as a food service director to commit an offense that only came to light when the district discovered that the school system blew past its budget, the New York post reported.
According to ABC 7 Chicago, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office reported that Liddell initiated the fraudulent activity in July 2020 and continued until February 2022.
According to the police, Liddell purchased a huge quantity of poultry using school funds and transported the food using a school cargo van. However, despite the district’s ongoing efforts to provide meal kits to students during remote learning at the peak of the pandemic, the students never received any of the wings.
The charges against Liddell, who had served as the food service head for 10 years, were initially filed in January 2023 and included theft and operating a criminal enterprise.
The discovery of Liddell’s misdeeds came about during a routine audit conducted by a school business manager. The audit revealed that food costs had exceeded the budget by $300,000, even though several months remained in the school year, which led to Liddell’s arrest and subsequent legal proceedings.
Liddell accepted a guilty plea in the case before she received the nine-year prison sentence, WGN reported.
Source : Times of India
