Melodie Gliniewicz will have to wait to get access to bank account
An order to release a second frozen bank account to the wife of disgraced former Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz will not be approved until Monday, officials said.
Attorney Chuck Smith tried to have an order approved by a Lake County judge to free up and return a second bank account to Melodie Gliniewicz. However, Judge Christopher Starck had to leave the courthouse before the order was completed, so the issue was delayed. A hearing to review other Gliniewicz accounts previously scheduled for Monday also has been delayed, Smith said.
The Lake County state's attorney's office froze several of Melodie Gliniewicz's personal bank accounts in November amid a criminal investigation into an embezzlement scam by her husband, who authorities said killed himself Sept. 1. No charges have been filed against Melodie Gliniewicz.
After the initial bank account freeze, authorities released a personal savings account totaling $4,187 to the Gliniewicz family.
Authorities say Charles Gliniewicz stole money earmarked for the Fox Lake Law Enforcement Explorer Post 300 he led as an adviser. Investigators said he killed himself to cover up the thefts of funds from the Explorers. Lake County Major Crimes task force Cmdr. George Filenko said more than $250,000 was funneled through the Explorer fund, and Charles Gliniewicz is suspected of stealing more than "five figures" from the youth program.
According to authorities, Charles Gliniewicz had been using the Fox Lake Explorer bank account "to cover personal expenses on a consistent basis" between September 2008 and April 2015.
Court records show the largest cash withdrawal from the Explorer account was $7,000, and the same amount was deposited into one of Melodie Gliniewicz's accounts. Her attorneys previously denied any wrongdoing or "money laundering" in any of those transactions.
Melodie Gliniewicz's attorneys said in a news release last month that she learned her account was frozen when she attempted to purchase gas for her vehicle. Because her funds were frozen, the release said, she was unable to pay her mortgage, doctor bills and other family expenses.