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player ready...A former Cook County employee in charge of managing a $10.3 million federal grant intended for people affected by flooding has been accused of stealing about $300,000 from the program.
Barry Croall, 45, of Montgomery, was charged with wire fraud and federal program theft Wednesday in a grand jury indictment, said federal prosecutors in a release this afternoon.
According to the indictment, Croall, who worked as a program manager for Cook County’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, hired a nonprofit corporation to perform services that were eligible to be paid through flooding grant funds.
Croall arranged a nonprofit organization, Strategic Management Services S.M.S. LLC, as well as three other businesses, to submit false documents inflating the amount they were owed. In return, the companies would get kick-backs, pocketing portions of the grant monies, said prosecutors.
Specifically, Croall hired Strategic Management to perform damage assessments and inspections for homes eligible under the grant. The company would then indicate it had performed work, but the invoices overstated the number of homes and the amount of work done, said prosecutors.
Also charged in the indictment was Ronald Ford, 57, of Country Club Hills. Ford, who operated Strategic Management. He was charged with conspiracy and federal program theft, said prosecutors.
Croall would have Strategic Management and the other companies involved in the scheme, submit invoices to another nonprofit company other than Cook County for payment. In total, about $741,000 worth of invoices were submitted under Croall’s watch from 2010 and 2011. The nonprofit would then get paid through county, said prosecutors.
Croall also found ways to get funding from outside vendors including being employed as an independent contractor for one of the companies for two years with an annual salary of $72,000, said prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Croall used the stolen funds toward his mortgage payments for rental property he owned in Yorkville and for the purchase of a condo unit. He also paid his credit card bills, homeowner association fees and automobile loan.
Croall, who was arrested Wednesday, was scheduled to appear in court at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. Ford was scheduled to appear in court Friday at an arraignment hearing.
Croall hasn’t been an employee of the county since at least May 2011, according to Press Secretary Karen Vaughan.