Nationwide — Vera Liddell, a former employee of a school district in Harvey, Illinois has admitted to stealing $1.5 million worth of chicken wings from the district’s food service program. Liddell, who is 68 years old, was arrested in January 2023 and has since pleaded guilty to the charges. She served as the food service director for Harvey School District 152, located near Chicago, for over a decade. Following her guilty plea, she was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Court records reveal that Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings from the district’s food supplier, using a district cargo van to retrieve the orders. The investigation into her activities showed that none of the chicken wings ever made it to the school or were distributed to students. The total value of the misappropriated chicken wings amounted to $1.5 million, all of which was funded by the school district’s budget.
The scheme was carried out over a 19-month period, starting in July 2020 and continuing until February 2022. It was only in January 2023 that the district’s business manager uncovered the scheme during a routine mid-year audit. The audit revealed that the district had exceeded its annual food service budget by $300,000, even though they were only halfway through the school year. This significant discrepancy raised immediate red flags.
In addition to the budget overage, the business manager found it peculiar that chicken wings were being ordered in the first place, as they were not typically served to students due to the presence of bones. This anomaly further fueled suspicions and ultimately led to the discovery of the fraudulent activities. Despite the investigation, it remains unclear what Liddell did with the vast quantity of chicken wings she had stolen.
