Former Forest Preserve Employees Plead Not Guilty of Theft, Misconduct Charges

Mark McDonald and David Tepper, two former administrators at the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, pleaded not guilty to charges they schemed to steal $150,000 from the forest preserve, the Daily Herald reported Tuesday.

McDonald, 52, of Wheaton, and Tepper, 49, of River Forest, were arraigned Tuesday on 140 charges each of theft, accepting kickbacks and official misconduct.

Authorities say the men planned to bilk the forest preserve out of about $150,000. In one plan involving McDonald's and Tepper's company, Integrated Design Solutions, the two former employees allegedly billed and received more than $90,000 from the Forest District for equipment and services that were never delivered from July 20, 2005, to Nov. 7, 2011, according to a press release.

In the second scheme, officials say Arif Mahmood acted as an employee of Alamach Technology Inc. and allegedly overbilled the Forest District for contracted work from Feb. 25, 2010, through Nov. 7, 2011. He then allegedly subcontracted with Integrated Design Solutions in the amount overbilled for services that were never rendered, netting McDonald and Tepper more than $64,000 in kickbacks, according to the release.

Mahmood is charged with stealing more than $10,000 from the district, court records show. He also pleaded not guilty in DuPage County Court this week.

Tepper and McDonald are scheduled to return to court Jan. 16, according to the Herald. 

Related:

• DuPage Forest District Files Civil Action to Recover Taxpayer Dollars
• FBI Investigates DuPage Forest Preserve Contracts
• Forest Preserve Employees Accused of Misusing Funds