Wrong format, lot and permit numbers led to forgery charges against ex-Sugar Grove president
Felony forgery charges against former Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels stemmed from the discovery of documents allowing residents to move into a newly built North Aurora house, according to a police report.
Michels, 60, of the 700 block of Tudor Court in Sugar Grove, was charged on July 18. Michels is now a village trustee. He was village president from 1999 to 2021.
Michels, who works for the company that built the home, is accused of making and delivering a forged occupancy certificate to a title company with the intent to defraud.
He "denied all knowledge of the forged Certificate of Occupancy permit," according to a North Aurora police report, and could not explain who would have sent it. An occupancy certificate is a verification that a property meets housing and building codes.
It was discovered when the owner of a new home in the Moose Lake Estates subdivision asked the village about getting a permit to build a pool. But village workers were confused because they had not issued an occupancy certificate, according to police.
The homeowner had received an occupancy certificate, dated July 3, at the closing of the purchase July 7, according to the report.
Community Development Director Nathan Darga told police that when he and other building officials determined the certificate was forged to allow the move-in, according to the report.
Various clues showed it was forged, the report stated: The ZIP code format, the permit number and the lot number were all wrong, and the date also was formatted incorrectly.
The document was purported to have been signed by building official Paul Zabel. But not only did he not work a full day on July 3 "and could not have signed the document," but the village issued no certificate of occupancies at all July 3, according to the report. Police allege the signature was copied and pasted onto the certificate.
Sugar Grove Village President Jennifer Konen said she could not comment about Michels' arrest. Michels declined to comment last week when contacted by the Daily Herald.
The charges are punishable by two to five years in prison and fines of up to $25,000 upon a conviction.