A recent report from WGN details a wild story of how $1.5 million worth of chicken wings was reportedly stolen by a 66-year-old woman over the course of several years. Vera Liddell, the 66-year-old who has worked for Harvey School District 152 for 10+ years, has been accused of ordering more than 11,000 cases worth of chicken wings from the district’s food provider. Court documents say that not only did Liddell use district funds to pay for the chicken wings, but she also picked up those orders inside a district-owned cargo van.
During Liddell’s hearing, a proffer stated that the “massive fraud began at the height of COVID during a time when students were not allowed to be physically present in school.” Neither the school nor the students received these large orders of chicken wings, which, according to prosecutors, were never served to the students due to them containing bones.
Liddell’s chicken scheme was found out by the business manager of the district. The manager reportedly discovered that the district was already over its annual food budget by more than $300,000 during a mid-year audit. The suspect was later charged with theft, and remains on bond for $150,000 at the Cook County Jail. Lela Bridges, who currently is serving as the interim superintendent for Harvey School District 152, has no comment on the situation as the legal process is still ongoing. Bridges adds that she has only held the position of superintendent for about a week up to this point.
There are so many questions that need answering here. For starters, why is Liddell ordering all of these chicken wings? Where is she keeping them stashed away, if the reports are true and she is the culprit? How many people is she feeding with this amount of chicken wings? Most importantly, how was she able to get away with this for so long now, if the reports are true?
Too many questions, not enough answers.
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