Cook County prosecutors have charged the former head of food services at a south suburban school district of engaging in a massive embezzlement scheme in which she allegedly stole more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings and $1.5 million in taxpayer funds over a 19-month period, court documents revealed.
Vera Liddell, who worked as the director of food services at Harvey School District 152, was charged with felony continuing financial crimes enterprise and theft exceeding $1,000,000, also a felony, according to a proffer filed in Cook County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors allege Liddell placed hundreds of unauthorized orders for food items, particularly chicken wings, with the district's main supplier, Gordon Food Services, from July 2020 to February 2022. While Liddell placed the orders separate from the district's legitimate orders, Gordon Food Services billed the school district for the items, believing Liddell was authorized to make the purchases on its behalf, court documents state.
In January 2022, the school district's business manager conducted an audit of departments and discovered the food service department had exceeded its annual budget by $300,000, and the school year was only half over at that point, according to the proffer. The business manager later found invoices signed by Liddell for "massive quantities" of chicken wings, an item that typically wouldn't be served to students because they contain bones, documents stated.
As part of an investigation, interviews were conducted with Gordon Food Services employees who said they were familiar with Liddell because of the massive quantities of chicken wings she would purchase, according to prosecutors. Surveillance video showed Liddell would arrive at the Gordon Food Services facility to pick up the food, sign an electronic keypad acknowledging she received the chicken wings and then billed the school district for the items, according to the proffer.
She would then leave with the food in one of the district's cargo vans without ever bringing the items to school buildings, the documents stated.
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