Date: January 30th, 2023 8:37 PM
Author: Violet Chest-beating Address
Fowl play: $1.5M in chicken wings allegedly stolen by school worker
By Nancy Harty
WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
an hour ago
(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The former food service director in south suburban Harvey has been charged with stealing $1.5 million in chicken wings and other food from Harvey School District 152, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Cook County prosecutors said Vera Liddell stole 11,000 cases of chicken wings over the course of one-and-a-half years, starting in July 2020.
Although students were not physically in school at the time, the district was still offering free meals.
The 66-year-old allegedly placed hundreds of unauthorized orders with Harvey’s main vendor, Gordon Food Services, and picked them up in a District 152 cargo van. Prosecutors said Liddell placed the orders separately from the district’s legitimate orders.
“Believing [Liddell] was authorized to make the purchases, Gordon Food Service would then bill the school district for the items,” the state’s attorney’s office wrote. “All of the unauthorized purchases were subsequently paid by the district.”
During a routine audit in January 2022, the District 152 business manager discovered that the food service department had exceeded its annual budget by over $300,000 — even though they were only halfway through the school year, authorities said.
Prosecutors said a further review showed Liddell’s signature on individual invoices for “massive quantities of chicken wings.”
Chicken wings were never served to students because they contain bones, the state’s attorney’s office wrote.
In interviews with Gordon Food Service employees, prosecutors said the workers were all familiar with Liddell, “due to the massive amount of chicken wings she would purchase.” Surveillance video allegedly showed Liddell arriving at the food service facility, often prior to the story’s opening, to pick up the food.
The state’s attorney’s office did not say what Liddell allegedly did with all of that food — only that none of it made it to the students or the school.
She was booked in the Cook County Jail on Jan. 26, 2023.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5281109&forum_id=2#45864726)