By Chris Green
Staff writer
Posted at 11:47 AM Updated at 8:21 PM
ROCKFORD — The Rockford Area Economic Development Council has fired its vice president of operations, Leilani Hillis, and its leaders accuse her of stealing more than $500,000 from the organization over a period of more than 10 years.
Auditors informed RAEDC officials of the suspected financial misconduct last week, said CEO and President Nathan Bryant. RAEDC officials immediately launched an internal investigation and placed Hillis on unpaid administrative leave.
Hillis has not been charged with a crime. Katie Zimmerman of the Winnebago County state’s attorney’s office said Rockford police are investigating the matter. RAEDC officials held a news conference Thursday to update the public and the agency’s investors about the matter.
“We do believe this is isolated to an individual person in an individual area of our organization,” Bryant said.
Hillis could not be reached for comment.
RAEDC is a nonprofit organization charged with helping employers attract and retain jobs in the Rockford region. The agency spent $1.9 million in 2016, according to its most recent federal income statement. About 20 percent of the organization’s income comes from public sources, including $150,000 a year from the city of Rockford and $100,000 a year from Winnebago County. The remainder comes from donations from private companies.
“Although we are not held to the standards of a public organization, we operate on behalf of the public,” Bryant said. “And because of that, it is terribly important for us to conduct ourselves in a manner that is transparent and no different than what our public partners would do.”
Hillis was employed by RAEDC for more than 18 years. Her duties included coordinating daily operations and financial services of the organization, as well as originating annual budgets and working with the agency’s auditors. Bryant said Hillis is suspected of providing false information to auditors to cover her alleged theft. The agency is working with its auditors to enact tighter financial controls, he said.
Bryant would not say whether RAEDC had lost investors because of the alleged theft, but said: “Our investors have been extremely gracious during this process. They understand that unfortunately activities like this happen.”
Winnebago County Board Chairman Frank Haney said that the agency’s leaders acted quickly after learning of the suspected theft and that RAEDC still has his full support.
“They’ve communicated openly with their stakeholders and the community through the process,” he said. “RAEDC has been clear that this in no way reflects its organizational values and has shared that they are working to restore confidence by actively addressing policies and procedures.
“Economic development efforts are critical to our future success, so we support the staff of the RAEDC who we know to be smart, capable and dedicated advocates for our region.”
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen
Above is from: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20180503/rockford-area-economic-development-council-fires-employee-suspected-of-stealing-more-than-500000
Above is from: http://www.wrex.com/story/38104767/2018/05/03/raedc-will-hold-news-conference-over-financial-misconduct-allegations
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