An official with a Chicago, Illinois area school district has been arrested for stealing $1.5 million worth of food, mainly chicken wings, from the district during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to reports.
The Associated Press reported that Vera Liddell, 66, was being held at the Cook County Jail on $150,000 bail, according to Chicago’s WGN-TV.
These super crispy baked chicken wings had 10,000 page views this past Super Bowl Sunday, but any game day is a great excuse to make a batch. (Courtesy Christine Pittman)
(Courtesy Christine Pittman)
Liddell was employed by the Harvey School District as the director of food service.
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The television station reviewed court documents showing that more than 11,000 boxes of chicken wings were ordered and picked up in a district cargo van during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time, students were learning remotely, but the district was still serving meals that parents could pick up.
Anchor Bar introduced the nation to Buffalo chicken wings in 1964. Their popularity has only spread over the decades, and Americans now consume an estimated 27 billion wings per year, according to the National Chicken Council.
(Anchor bar)
District funds were used to purchase the food, prosecutors said, but the food was never delivered to the students.
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When a mid-year audit was conducted, school officials discovered that the district was $300,000 over its annual food service budget.
The district’s business manager discovered signed invoices for “large quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” prosecutors said.
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The Associated Press reported that of the 1,600 students in the district, more than 80% qualify as low income.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
