Dist. 158 alleges mail fraud

Huntley Unit District 158 has filed a complaint of possible mail fraud with the U.S. Postal Service, district officials said Wednesday.

The postal service complaint, according to school board Vice President Tony Quagliano, alleges District 158 sent voters intentionally misleading information in a district newsletter before the 2004 referendum.

Quagliano would not say who was named in the complaint, but officials said it does name a former superintendent.

Steve Swanson was superintendent from 2001 until he and then-finance officer Paul Halverson resigned in 2005, after public outcry over misinformation distributed as part of the referendum campaign.

The referendum fallout ultimately led to the reworking of the state tax-cap law, which governs referendums.

The district also has filed a complaint with the McHenry County state's attorney.

Officials would not reveal who was named, but the alleged activity occurred sometime before Swanson left the district and after his interim successor, Robert Hammon, was hired.

The district's complaint with the state's attorney alleges a former superintendent authorized employee benefits without the authority to do so, officials said.

Swanson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Hammon said that with the exception of the teachers contract, "there was no discussion of any of the benefits for any of the employee groups" during his tenure as interim superintendent from August 2005 through June 2006.

District officials stressed that the filing with the state's attorney does not name current or former board members.

A separate complaint filed with the state's attorney by board member Larry Snow accuses board member Mike Skala and other current or former board members of signing contracts that didn't receive board approval, district officials said.

Skala has denied any wrongdoing.

Despite the multiple complaints, District 158 officials denied the filings discredit the district's recently concluded forensic audit. The audit concluded there was no fraud in the district's payroll or construction funds between the 2003 and 2006 fiscal years.

District officials said that while the issue with unauthorized benefits was discovered as a result of the forensic audit, it was outside the scope of Jefferson Wells' investigation.

"It is related to the forensic audit, but you cannot infer from that that fraud was committed," Superintendent John Burkey said.

But Snow said the issue should have been covered in the audit.

"Everything related to paychecks is a payroll issue -- benefits as well as salary," Snow said.

And Snow says the audit's findings are unsubstantiated.

"There is no evidence that they conducted a fraud investigation," Snow said.

Others in the district said that while the audit may still be lacking documents, there's no doubt Jefferson Wells investigated fraud.

"No, it's not complete," board Vice President Tony Quagliano said. But he added, "They did an investigation that looked to see if there are any elements of fraud involved."

And some officials said Snow's issues with the audit are already being handled by the state's attorney's investigation.

Board President Shawn Green said if the auditor looked into all of Snow's issues, the audit "wouldn't cost $100,000; it would probably be closer to $200,000 or $300,000."

Green said the district may be able to recover some of the $100,000 -- depending on the outcome of the state's attorney's investigation.

"I don't want it to ruin our chances for getting back any money we may be owed," Green said.