Food Service Director Of School District After Allegedly Stealing $1.5 Million In Chicken Wings From Schools In Illinois

Cook County

A food service director has been charged after allegedly stealing $1.5 million worth of food. 66-year-old Vera Liddell was a food service director for the Harvey School District in Illinois, according to the New York Post. The woman allegedly began her heist back in 2020 during Covid-19, reports WGN

According to the news station, Liddell ordered over 11,000 cases of chicken wings for the Harvey School District with money from the school; however, she took all the chicken for her personal use. Court records say,

“The food was never brought to the school or provided to the students.” 

Prosecutors believe she began the theft while students were practicing remote learning but the school district was still giving out food for pickup. It isn’t clear what happened to the extensive pounds of poultry. 

The district learned about the woman’s actions after the district manager did a routine audit back in Jan. 2022 and learned that the food expenses were $300,000 above the budget only

“halfway through the school year,”

reports The Post. 

Prosecutors say, the district manager

“discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones.” 

Prosecutors went on to say that the food service supplier staff members knew Liddell by the name

“due to the massive amount of chicken wings she would purchase,”

reports WGN. The woman is being held on a $150,000 bond. 

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