Crime & Safety
Elmhurst Woman Admits $400k Theft from Low-Income Housing Vouchers
The former head of the Maywood Housing Authority pleaded guilty to two felonies and has been sentenced to six years in prison.
An Elmhurst woman has been sentenced to six years in prison after admitting on Tuesday to stealing $400,000, funds intended to help low-income residents stay in their homes, in order to pay her own Elmhurst home’s mortgage, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
According to the paper, Gwendolyn Robinson, 51, pled guilty to felony counts of theft of over $100,000 and official misconduct, confessing to prosecutors’ claims that she funneled money from housing vouchers into her own coffers while acting as executive director of the Maywood Housing Authority from May 2006 through Nov. 2009. She was indicted in July 2011.
"Officials who steal public funds betray the trust that is granted to them," Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a press release. "Ms. Robinson's scheme to enrich herself not only cheated the families who rely on these public resources to secure safe, affordable housing but also the taxpayers who fund these critical programs."
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Read more at the Chicago Sun-Times website and the Illinois Attorney General website.
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