We wonder exactly how much fraud happened during COVID, when schools were closed and people were working remotely and the normal oversights and guardrails were lessened (if not outright gone). Tim Walz oversaw hundreds of millions in COVID fraud in Minnesota.
It wasn't just Minnesota, however, a food service worker at an Illinois school district conned taxpayers out of $1.5 million by stealing chicken wings during the pandemic.
An Illinois school worker has received 9 years for stealing over $1.5 million in chicken wings pic.twitter.com/WSvztAzfZm
— Pubity (@pubity) August 12, 2024
What a clucking shame.
An Illinois school worker will spend the next nine years in prison after she stole 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million that were meant for students during the height of the COVID pandemic, prosecutors said.
Vera Liddell used her position as the food service director at Harvey School District 152 to carry out the unappetizing crime that was only unearthed after the district realized the school system blew past its budget, prosecutors reportedly said.
Liddell, 68, started the scheme in July 2020 and didn’t stop until February 2022, the Cook County State Attorney’s Office said, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
None of those wings made it to the kids who were supposed to be fed.
Sounds more like the school is the criminal for valuing their wings at $1.5 mil
— jamesjitsu (@crawfordjamesk) August 12, 2024
Yeah, how many wings did she steal? Inflation wasn't that bad in 2020.
Wings have gotten pricey. This may have only been like 100 wings.
— reignGod ☔ (@r3ignG0d) August 12, 2024
In fairness, this writer once went to a bar post-COVID where the menu listed the price of chicken wings as 'market price' because they were that expensive at one point.
Same state where Mayor Henyard stole $30M, but they give chicken lady 9 mos
— Unpainted Huffines (@funfinder1984) August 13, 2024
This is in reference to scandal ridden Tiffany Heynard, mayor of Dolton (a village in IL). We've written about her.
Liddell deserves prison time, but so does Heynard.
She was the food service director and she was ordering cases of wings and then picking them up in her own vehicle. They say she ordered over 11,000 cases of wings. https://t.co/h9u7Yxe53P
— Ginger Alexis ♉︎ (@GingerAlexis__) August 12, 2024
Just incredible. But the math shows a case of wings would cost $136.37 cents.
Some of the comments are very funny, though:
— ryan chalmers (@ryanchalm3rs) August 12, 2024
This made us chuckle.
That's like, 6 wings https://t.co/UPvvLYMVfM
— DutchVidya is a Photographer I guess (@DutchVidya) August 13, 2024
We laughed.
Based on Zaxby's current prices that's about 14 or 15 https://t.co/ql71R7u7ui
— Spencer Perry (@TheSpencerPerry) August 12, 2024
Laughed hard.
I have been this hungry before https://t.co/LLp9Wd8gOq
— Squam → TFS (@squam0) August 12, 2024
Hahahahahahahaha.
But in all seriousness:
The betrayal of trust here is just despicable. This was a school official tasked with feeding children. Instead, she ripped off the public and lined her own pockets.
— QuintusCurtius (@QuintusCurtius) August 12, 2024
Maximum punishment. https://t.co/YjcbDHqIg5
And that's why she deserves prison time.
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