Former Waste Agency Director Stole $900K: Prosecutors

By claiming that he was enrolled in at least three prestigious business programs over the previous four years, a former north suburban waste management agency director made off with more than $900,000 in reimbursements, authorities allege.

Christopher Brooke Beal, 47, of Chicago is charged with theft of government property, according to a release from Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office.

He was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail during a court appearance in Skokie on Friday morning.  If and when he's released, Judge Larry Axelrood ordered Beal to give up his passport and any firearms he owns and be put on electronic home monitoring.

Beal served as executive director of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern County (SWANCC) since 1993. 

The agency manages garbage collection for 23 north and northwestern suburban communities. While it is not a taxing body, the agency is funded primarily through taxpayer dollars from its member municipalities.

According to prosecutors, between 2006 and 2010, Beal allegedly accepted nearly $850,000 in payments from SWANCC for alleged reimbursement expenses for prestigious executive and graduate management classes that he never attended or even enrolled in. 

Among the programs that Beal claimed to attend: the Executive Program at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, the Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Chicago.

None of them have any record of Beal having been enrolled in their programs, prosecutors said.

Beale told an assistant that he stole the money because he was angry with the agency, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Accountants found an "inexplicable" increase on employee related expenses -- all paid to Beal -- during an annual audit last fall.

When confronted, Beal provided auditors with a forged email from another agency official authorizing his actions, prosecutors said.

The theft will not result in any tax increases or additional fees for residents, Skokie mayor George Van Dusen said during an afternoon press event. 

"We now have our budget before the board of directors for this next year and it will not have any implications like that.  Our forensic auditor has assured us that the money -- everything is accounted for," he said."

Beal will appear for a preliminary hearing April 1.  His charges are a Class X felony punishable by six to 30 years in prison.