Attorney: Man charged in wrong state

A New York man accused of stealing $2.5 million from a company with offices in Lincolnshire has been charged in the wrong state, his attorney argued Tuesday.

Ian Gittlitz, 60, is charged with felony theft for allegedly taking the money while serving as president and chief financial officer of ICD publications, a publisher of trade magazines.

Police said Gittlitz, of Stony Brook, N.Y., took the money using a company credit card to cover business-related travel and then applying for personal reimbursement for the same expenses and writing checks to himself against company accounts.

The activity went on from October 2000 until June 2006, investigators said, and he was charged in Lake County in March 2009.

Gittlitz's attorney, Ronald Mennaker of Chicago, said Tuesday that Gittlitz and all but two ICD employees worked for the company in Long Island, N.Y. during the time period covered by the charges.

The two employees worked in Lincolnshire and the company is incorporated in Illinois, Mennaker said, but all the illegal activity his client is accused of took place in New York.

“The checks were written in New York and they were cashed by New York banks holding company accounts,” Mennaker argued in a motion to dismiss the charges. “This state has no jurisdiction over these matters, and this court has no jurisdiction.”

Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert responded that the Illinois connection was made because Gittlitz double-billed some expenses for trips to Chicago and he submitted expense reports to the Lincolnshire office.

“The (Illinois) criminal statute is broad, and it is intentionally broad,” Hoffert said while arguing the charges here should stand. “It is broad to protect the citizens of this state from those who would commit crimes against them.”

Circuit Judge Fred Foreman said he would take the matter under advisement, and would issue a ruling on Mennaker's motion on April 15.

Gittlitz, who faces a prison sentence of four to 15 years if convicted in the case, is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 19.