This is not the way to get ready for the Super Bowl.
The food service director of an impoverished Illinois school district was charged with stealing $1.5 million of food — most of which was chicken wings.
Vera Liddell, 66, alleging began stealing from the Harvey School District during the heigh of COVID-19, local TV station WGN station reported.
The station reported that Liddell ordered more than 11,000 cases of chicken wings for the district with school funds, but took all the poultry for herself.
“The food was never brought to the school or provided to the students,” court records claimed.
Prosecutors alleged she started stealing while students were learning remotely but the district was still providing meals available for pickup.
It’s unclear what happened to the tens of thousands of pounds of chicken wings. Local news did not report the day of her arrest.
The alleged scheme was apparently uncovered when the district manager conducted a routine audit in January 2022 and founds food costs were $300,000 over budget just halfway through the school year, according to CBS News.
The auditor “discovered individual invoices signed by Liddell for massive quantities of chicken wings, an item that was never served to students because they contain bones,” prosecutors said.
The food service provider employees all knew Liddell by name “due to the massive amount of chicken wings she would purchase,” prosecutors said, according to WGN.
Liddell is currently being held in Cook County Jail on a $150,000 bond.
The district told CBS it could not comment due to the ongoing investigation.
