CHICAGO (AP) — A former Cook County employee who oversaw $10 million in federal grants to help 2008 flood victims is accused of swindling about $330,000 from the program.
Forty-five-year-old Barry Croall of Montgomery pleaded not guilty at a Thursday arraignment in federal court in Chicago following his arrest.
A grand jury indictment says the one-time program manager at the county’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management used some of his ill-gotten proceeds to buy a car and a condominium.
It says he arranged for several companies to provide services that were eligible for funds. But he allegedly had them inflate compensation amounts, and got a cut of payments they received as kick-backs.
Croall’s charged with wire fraud and federal program theft. A fraud conviction alone carries a maximum 20-year prison term.
