Dundee Twp. park board trustee pushes back on lawsuits
Frank J. Scarpelli Jr., a Dundee Township Park District board member who is facing several lawsuits, is contesting claims he took more than $500,000 from his family's business.
And even though his wife has dropped her divorce petition, Scarpelli's cousin is still suing him, alleging he stole millions of dollars over 20 years.
Scarpelli, a former board president, was sued in March by Meadowdale Properties, for which he once worked for as a general manager for commercial properties.
The lawsuit from the Meadowdale Shopping Center Corp. argued he diverted rent funds, charged personal items on company accounts and overcharged the center for materials and supplies while managing day-to-day operations until he was fired in February 2015.
Scarpelli was a no-show in court, and a hearing to determine damages was scheduled.
But records show Scarpelli contested the judgment within the 30-day window and now the case is back to square one.
His attorney, Eydie Vanderbosch, acknowledged in court filings that Scarpelli managed operations for the company but denied any theft or misuse of funds and wants the complaint dismissed, according to court records. Vanderbosch did not return a message seeking comment.
The case is next due in Kane County on Sept. 17.
Meanwhile, Margaret Scarpelli voluntarily dropped her divorce petition in June, records show.
Scarpelli's divorce case from fall 2017 gained attention when his cousin Anne Marie Poincelet sued to put the divorce on hold.
Poincelet's lawyers cited a 2015 lawsuit in Cook County, where they argued Scarpelli systematically stole roughly $2.8 million over two decades from trusts belonging to Poincelet and her deceased mother, who was Frank Scarpelli's aunt.
The lawsuit argued that Frank and Margaret Scarpelli's divorce sought to divide money and assets that rightfully belonged to Poincelet, records show, and is due back in front of a judge in Cook County on Aug. 20.
Joseph Marconi, the defense attorney in the 2015 litigation, has called the allegations against Scarpelli "fanciful."