Reports show that an official in the Harvey School District, close to Chicago, Illinois, has been apprehended for stealing $1.5 worth of food. This comprised of mostly chicken wings and occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
66-year-old Vera Liddell was placed in the Cook County Jail on $150,000 bond. She had worked at the school district as the food service director.
Documents reveal that about 11,000 cases of chicken wings were ordered and retrieved in a district cargo van during the pandemic.
During this time, students were learning virtually, but the district still provided food that parents could pick up.
District money was used to buy the food, but it was never given to students.
When an audit was performed in the middle of the year, school officials found that the district was over its $300,000 yearly food budget.
The district’s business manager found signed receipts for “massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” prosecutors noted.
Records show that of the 1,600 students that are enrolled in the district, over 80% qualify as low-income.
