Prospect Heights man accused of stealing from special ed fund

A Prospect Heights man accused of stealing money from a Niles Township special-education fund was among four suburban men charged with government corruption this week by Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Robert Baldwin, 67, of the 200 block of Country Club Drive in Prospect Heights, was charged with official misconduct as one of the first people arrested in "Operation Cookie Jar."

The official complaint accused Baldwin of trying to steal $10,400 by using a credit card for the Niles Township District for Special Education to charge personal expenses, including airline tickets, rental cars, computers and cell phones.

According to the complaint, Baldwin was director of fiscal services for the special-ed program, based out of Molloy School in Morton Grove, for seven years from 2001 to 2008 before retiring. He then served as a consultant. Baldwin was confronted, however, with an audit report and credit-card statements at a school board meeting in September 2008 and resigned, but the investigation went on for another year and a half.

The complaint said that under questioning Baldwin "admitted that he had made some errors and while employed at the Niles Township District for Special Education he was going through a 'rough period' in his life."

Bond for Baldwin was set at $150,000. Official misconduct is a felony punishable by two to five years in prison. Alvarez said in a news conference in Chicago that additional charges are possible.

"This theft is particularly disturbing in that it came from funds for children with special needs," Alvarez said.

Also charged in Operation Cookie Jar were Martin Boyd, 62, of Hometown, accused of theft of government property as village accountant for Harwood Heights; Donald Jacobs, 62, of Posen, accused of the same charge with the Posen Park District; and Michael Tracy, 48, of Tinley Park, accused of theft of property with the Southwest Bar Association.

"We cannot find a solution to corruption simply by indicting governor after governor," Alvarez said. "We've got to start from the bottom and work our way up. We have to chisel away at the problem."

She said "Operation Cookie Jar" was ongoing. "We're going to continue," she said, "and we'll probably see more cases."