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A worker at a school district in Cook County, Illinois, has been handed a 9-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to stealing $1.5million worth of chicken wings and food from her employer.
Vera Liddell, Director of Food Services at Harvey School District, committed the acts of fraud from July 2020 to February 2022, according to court documents reported by Fox 32.
Liddell pleaded guilty to the charges last week after her arrest in January 2023.
"The massive fraud began at the height of Covid during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school,” the prosecution wrote according to court documents from her initial arrest. “Even though the children were learning remotely, the school district continued to provide meals for the students that their families could pick up.”
Over this time, Liddell continuously ordered unauthorized food that went unnoticed by her employer. These orders, separate from her legitimate orders for the school district, included some 11,000 cases of chicken wings.
“The defendant engaged in a pervasive embezzlement scheme which resulted in the theft of over $1.5million from taxpayer funds,” the proffer claimed.
Her fraudulent purchases were funded by the district and only discovered when the Harvey School District conducted a routine bi-annual investigation into Liddell’s unit and found the food services department was $300,000 over budget only halfway through the year.
The former Director of Food Services used a van owned by the district to collect the goods but did not bring the stolen items to any school site.
Worker fraud is a growing and costly threat to employers
From time theft and expense fraud to major cases of theft and embezzlement like the Liddell case, occupational fraud is more common than most employers realize.
The results can be catastrophic, with employee theft accounting for 33% of US corporate bankruptcies; and the issue is getting worse each year in American workplaces. The US Department of Commerce estimates employee theft costs are growing 15% each year.
With workers squeezed in a cost-of-living crisis as costs including rent, bills, and childcare skyrocket with inflation, many individuals turn to theft as a last resort to make ends meet.
This is known as “pressure,” in the fraud triangle, a recognized model that breaks down the three major drivers of fraud.
The other drivers are “opportunity,” – in the case of Liddell, for example, spotting that her role as Director of Food Services meant she could order extra food without immediately being spotted – and “rationalization,” where the individual justifies their actions, for example by suggesting the employer doesn’t need the money or that they have been working hard enough that they deserve what they steal.
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has estimated that fraud across the globe costs employers $4.7trillion each year; with theft accounting for around $50billion per year.
