Clerk charged with embezzling $741,000 in Chicago

Federal prosecutors say a clerk for the Chicago Department of Transportation is charged with stealing more than $741,000 in permit fee money.

Prosecutors say 50-year-old Antoinette Chenier of Homewood is charged with embezzlement. She was arrested Wednesday morning. Prosecutors accuse her of diverting money from checks that companies wrote to apply for permits to block public ways with moving vans or trucks.

Officials say Chenier has been a city clerk since 1990. Prosecutors say she deposited hundreds of checks into personal and business banking accounts that she opened in 2008.

Prosecutors say bank officials noticed "unusual banking activity" in January and froze Chenier's business account. The charges come after an investigation by federal and city officials.

Chenier doesn't have a listed telephone number in Homewood.