On Wednesday, it was announced that a federal grand jury in Illinois had returned a five-count indictment against the former treasurer of the City of Zeigler. 44-year-old Ryan A. Thorpe of Zeigler, Illinois had been charged with wire fraud and embezzlement from a local government. The charges are in connection with Thorpe’s time as the Treasurer of the City of Zeigler.
The indictment claims that Thorpe embezzled more than $300,000 from March 4, 2013 to August 3, 2017. The defendant is accused of writing checks to himself drawn from the City’s general account. The indictment also alleges that the defendant attempted to conceal his actions by modifying copies of the checks that were delivered to the city each month by its bank.
The indictment claims that Thorpe “whited out” his name on the checks and wrote in the names of vendors and suppliers that the city had worked with. Then, the altered documents were supposedly placed in the bank records kept by the city. The defendant is also accused of falsely submitting Treasurer’s Reports each month to the Zeigler City Council.
Thorpe has been charged with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of embezzlement from a local government. Thorpe is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, October 19, 2017, at the federal courthouse in Benton, Illinois.