(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A former Kane County circuit clerk is charged in an alleged kickback scheme involving the misuse of public funds.
Between December 2018 and November 2020, Thomas M. Hartwell allegedly misappropriated $119,575 in public funds while he was Kane County Circuit Court Clerk and received $15,000 in kickbacks from an associate, Robert Gutierrez, authorities said Wednesday.
Hartwell allegedly directed the misappropriated funds to Gutierrez Productions, Inc., and Dar Illuminations, LLC. Gutierrez is the president of both businesses.
Hartwell spent the county money to promote a May 2020 event billed as a PPE/care package giveaway, but it actually was a political event for which county funds should not have been approved, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser said in a news release.
Charges against Hartwell include theft by deception of more than $100,000, official misconduct and income tax fraud, while Gutierrez faces charges of theft by deception and providing kickbacks. Both defendants have been released on bond and are expected in court next month.
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