Man charged with heading laundering scam pleads not guilty

A Chicago man authorities say was at the center of a plot to steal $330,000 from retirement accounts managed by a Lincolnshire firm pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lake County Circuit Court.

Martin Johnson, 34, used a Hewitt employee to take money from retirement accounts, funnel it to accounts Johnson set up and then further distributed it to other bank accounts, authorities charge.

Assistant State’s Attorney Steven DeRue said Hewitt employee Cherilyn Thomas, 25, of the 4100 block of Bonhill Drive in Arlington Heights, had stolen personal information pertaining to the accounts and passed on the information to Johnson.

Johnson then withdrew money from the accounts and transferred it into the personal accounts of Niven Beluso, 25, and Nicarico Liddell, 25, both of Chicago, authorities said.

Police say Beluso withdrew $27,000 from his accounts and Liddell got $20,000 from hers and that both passed the bulk of that money to Johnson.

Lincolnshire police became aware of the scheme and froze all bank accounts connected to it last September before further withdrawals could be made, according to authorities.

Officials said $330,000 was withdrawn from the retirement accounts, but not all that money fell into the hands of those charged.

Beluso pleaded guilty to attempted money laundering in January and was placed on probation and ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to Hewitt.

Liddell pleaded guilty to the same crime on Dec. 15 and was ordered to repay $20,000 during her probation.

Thomas was ordered to repay $43,798 when she pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was placed on probation Oct. 24.

Johnson, who is charged in Lake County with money laundering, is serving a four-year prison term for theft in Champaign County.

He is due to appear in court March 21.