Pledging to turn around their financially troubled organization, leaders of the Mexican Cultural and Educational Institute of Chicago say they have fired four employees accused of stealing about $75,000 in group funds.
Three of the employees, whom board members would not name, worked at the Mexican Consulate under an agreement in which the non-profit institute was allowed to raise money by providing photography and photocopying services to consulate visitors. The contract brought in $400,000 a year for the group from 1999 to 2001, but $177,000 of it was never deposited in the bank, an audit last fall found.
Board members believe the three employees pocketed $50,000 of the missing $177,000, interim institute director Luis Pelayo said Saturday. A fourth employee, the institute’s former administrator/accountant, was fired for allegedly misappropriating $24,100 from another account for personal expenses, Pelayo said.
Investigators with the Illinois attorney general’s office continue to look into where the rest of the missing money went, Pelayo said. The Mexican government also is examining a $250,000 hole in the institute’s budget, a deficit that includes the missing $177,000.
“By making these findings public, we are moving ahead to find out where the money was and how it was spent and who did it,” Pelayo said, noting the board was changing many of the institute’s governing laws to avoid future problems. “It’s time to look forward, not back.”
The Mexican government created the institute in Chicago and other parts of the world a decade ago to promote Mexican culture. Pelayo said the institute is planning new community programs in coming months, including education and language classes and an art show featuring Latin American painters and sculptors at the institute’s offices at 702 N. Wells St.
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