Former Bensenville employee charged with stealing from village

A former Bensenville employee has been charged with stealing more than $45,000 from the village over a three-year period, according to prosecutors.

Norma Hernandez, 49, of the 300 block of Marshall Street in Bensenville is accused of stealing the money from the village’s Vehicle Sticker Fund and the Administrative Tow Fees account.

The village uncovered the scheme after discovering about $5,000 was missing from the vehicle sticker fund in July, according to prosecutors.

Hernandez was responsible for issuing vehicle stickers, and authorities allege she would accept money for the stickers but keep it instead of entering the funds into the village’s payment database.

She is accused of stealing $4,941 from the vehicle sticker fund from 2011 through 2012 and $41,500 from the tow fees account from 2010 through 2012.

Authorities took Hernandez into custody Monday morning on a $100,000 arrest warrant. She is due in bond court at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

“It is alleged that Norma Hernandez abused the public trust and lined her own pockets at the taxpayer’s expense,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in a news release.

She was charged with theft of more than $10,000, which carries a sentence of between three and seven years in prison and up to a $25,000 fine after a conviction.