Aurora treasury examiner charged with fraud

After losing his Aurora home in foreclosure, Vincent R. Arena is accused of weaving a desperate web of deceit to get back on his feet and hide his money woes from his wife.

Authorities said he forged an official court order to secure a $711,000 loan despite bad credit for a new house in Wheaton. The scheme unraveled more than 16 months later when Arena created a bogus check for a sizable donation to a Naperville Catholic school where his wife worked, authorities say.

The 52-year-old man was arrested Thursday, hours after a DuPage County grand jury returned a 20-count indictment alleging various financial crimes. He remains in jail on a $200,000 bond.

Arena is employed as a U.S. Department of Treasury bank examiner.

His troubles began in 2003 when court documents show authorities foreclosed on his home at 2222 Kenyon Court in the upscale Stonebridge subdivision on Aurora's far east side. Arena sued, alleging authorities improperly served him with the foreclosure notice, but he lost in court.

Though he never appealed the ruling, authorities said he told his wife the couple won a huge settlement. In reality, Arena is accused of doctoring a court order July 10, 2006, complete with a bogus circuit court seal and judge's signature, for a false $805,000 award in his favor. He later used the forged order to obtain the $711,000 loan for the new house in Wheaton, the indictment alleges.

He and his wife, Susan, moved into the new house. Sixteen months after the forgery, Vincent Arena is accused of creating the bogus check using computer software for a $260,000 donation to All Saints Catholic Academy, where his wife worked as a kindergarten teacher.

The regional Catholic elementary school, created in 2005 by three local churches, was trying to raise money for a $1.25 million science addition. Authorities said Susan Arena confronted her husband after the check didn't clear, but he told her it was a mistake and that the money was there. So, she wrote the school a personal check - which bounced.

The Joliet Diocese wrote a letter last spring to DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett asking for help. Birkett said the scheme involved a long paper trail involving several financial institutions. He credited the lead investigator, Dave Hamm, and prosecutor Helen Kapas-Erdman, the public integrity and financial crimes supervisor, for their work during the eight-month investigation.

"White-collar crime is sometimes difficult to uncover," Birkett said. "The accused oftentimes is very knowledgeable about finances and knows how to cover their tracks."

Arena faces four to 15 years in prison if he is convicted of theft in excess of $500,000, loan fraud, financial institution fraud, wire fraud, forgery and continuing a financial crimes enterprise.

Meanwhile, his wife filed for divorce Jan. 25. The couple married June 5, 1982, after meeting at Notre Dame. Vincent Arena's address is listed to a Naperville apartment.