Former Chicago Heights Library Director in Hot Water
Former Chicago Heights Library Director in Hot Water (Chicago Heights, IL) – About a month ago, former Chicago Heights library director Kelley Nichols-Brown and former Chicago Heights Library Board President Lori Wilcox were placed in hot water for Nichols-Brown allegedly misappropriating nearly 1/2 million dollars.
Nichols-Brown reportedly made thousands of dollars worth of personal purchases using library district funds, including library credit cards and petty cash. The library is reportedly suing to recover the funds.
Wilcox was responsible for holding monthly oversight meetings, but never did. “A forensic accounting services report from an independent auditing firm, BKD CPAs & Advisors, has concluded that former Chicago Heights Library Board President Lori Wilcox and Library Director Kelly Nichols-Brown have allegedly mishandled over $400,000 in Library funds. Therefore, the library has a fiduciary responsibility to initiate both civil court action to recuperate unauthorized spending, as well as make a formal referral to the Cook County State’s Attorney for a criminal investigation.”” said Jaime Paicely, who is currently serving as Library Board President.
The alleged misappropriated or mishandled funds are broken down as follows per BKD CPAs & Advisors:
- $355 Petty Cash Disbursements
- $39,130 Unapproved Credit Card Purchases
- $93,421 of transactions that contain a potential conflict of interest
- $307,577 of payments that reportedly violate library policies and/or IL state procurement rules
Wilcox is the current Chicago Heights Clerk, the Bloom Township Democratic Committeeperson, and recently unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic Primary against incumbent and current IL State Senator Patrick Joyce. She is currently heading the Democratic slate in Bloom Township as supervisor. Nichols-Brown is running on the same slate for Bloom Township Clerk.
Former Chicago Heights Library Director in Hot Water
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