School worker steals chicken wings worth $1.5m

A former head of food service at the Harvey School District 152, in Chicago, United States of America, Vera Liddell, has been accused of stealing 11,000 cases of chicken wings worth $1.5 million.

According to NBC Chicago on Monday, the Cook County prosecutors claimed that Liddell carried out the fraud between July 2020 and February 2022.

Prosecutors alleged Liddell placed hundreds of unauthorised orders for food items, particularly chicken wings, with the district’s main the supplier, who billed the school district for the items, believing Liddell was authorised to make the purchases on its behalf, court documents state.

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The fraud was discovered when the school district’s business manager conducted an audit of departments in January 2022 and discovered the food service department had exceeded its annual budget by $300,000, and the school year was only half over at that point.

The business manager later found invoices signed by Liddell for “massive quantities” of chicken wings, an item that typically wouldn’t be served to students because they contain bones, documents stated.