Superintendent: Up to $100K stolen from Lincoln-Way Central athletic booster account

The Will County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the possible theft of up to $100,000 from a Lincoln-Way Central High School athletic booster account, according to district officials.

Sheriff spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said in an email that on Aug. 6, detectives were called to the Lincoln-Way School District 210 administration office that is located at Lincoln-Way Central High School.

The detectives spoke with district administrators regarding “alleged financial transgressions” that they had discovered, Hoffmeyer said.

“Allegations were made regarding the athletic director’s secretary, who has since resigned her position at the school,” she said.

Hoffmeyer said the investigation is ongoing and no charges had been filed in the case as of Tuesday.

She also said that because no charges have been filed in the case, the sheriff’s office is not releasing the employee’s name.

Lincoln-Way District 210 Superintendent Scott Tingley said there were discrepancies discovered in the high school’s athletic booster account as district officials were undergoing a budget-building process.

“As we were going line by line and analyzing, we found discrepancies. We found certain accounts were low,” Tingley said.

Tingley said the accounting firm Sikich, which is the district’s independent inspector general, conducted an internal investigation of the accounts earlier in the summer that then led to the resignation of an employee in the high school’s athletic department. He said he would not identify the employee.

Tingley said the amount of money stolen from the account is estimated to be between $20,000 and $100,000.

He said all information from the internal investigation was turned over to the sheriff’s office.