Editor's note: FEDs, this Shark respectfully requests that you keep an open mind (and investigation) on the Probate Court of Cook County and the IARDC. This court, judges, GALs, caregivers and lawyers are using grandpa, grandma, baby boomers and WWII vets, our greatest generation, as their personal cash cows. Recently, a suburban man was denuded of his life enterprise of $800,000.00 in less than 20 months by these pirates. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
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Former top cop accused of fraud
Feds say ex-chief in suburb misused helicopter funds
City of Momence police chief Timothy Swanson. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune / October 15, 2012)
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Once president of the Illinois police chiefs association, a former suburban police chief has been indicted on multiple charges in the alleged misuse of more than $180,000 raised for a police helicopter program he ran.
The federal indictment of former Countryside Chief Timothy Swanson, announced Wednesday, comes 11/2 years after a Tribune investigation detailed numerous questionable actions by Swanson. Those included starting the program with a convicted felon and steering grant money to a side business they'd begun.
The indictment was the latest setback for a chief who'd been given a national policing award for starting the helicopter program, only to have questions of misconduct dog him for years, eventually leading to him leaving the chiefs association and his most recent job with the Kankakee County sheriff's office.
Swanson gained fame in area law enforcement circles in 2005 by campaigning for an area helicopter program to nab criminals and thwart terrorists.
He started a nonprofit, was lent two military-surplus helicopters and solicited government grants and donations under the guise of outfitting and operating the helicopters, according to records. The nonprofit received more than $350,000 in donations by 2012, much of it from area police departments.
But, according to the indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Tuesday, prosecutors say Swanson for years was skimming from the donations and grant money — leading to this week's charges of fraud, money laundering, income tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
Prosecutors say Swanson opened a credit card account for the nonprofit and used it for personal expenses. He diverted $75,000 from the nonprofit and put it into his own money market account, according to the indictment, and later used some of that money to pay his wife's Sears credit card bill. And the indictment alleges he used some of the nonprofit's money to buy a side business, Rotors and Wings Aviation, which became a one-stop shop for fixing, commissioning and learning to fly helicopters at the Kankakee airport.
Swanson also is accused of using the nonprofit's helicopter for a private contract with Chicagoland Speedway for traffic control.
The questionable actions began with the start of the program, when Swanson named to the program a chief pilot with a checkered past, Kurt Kaiser.
The Tribune reported how Kaiser was found guilty but mentally ill of felony criminal damage, and guilty of felony theft, after he stole a helicopter from Midway Airport and abandoned it near his Will County home, where deputies also found stolen construction equipment. Two years before he became chief pilot, Kaiser paid a $371,000 civil fine after prosecutors accused him and his wife of defrauding a federal business loan program.
Kaiser and his wife became members of the nonprofit's board, joining Swanson and his wife, records show. Swanson helped Kaiser land a $63,000 security camera contract with Countryside. And the pair launched several businesses, including Rotors and Wings, the firm named in the indictment.
Kaiser was not accused in this week's indictment of any wrongdoing.
Countryside officials have told the Tribune they were unaware of Kaiser's past at the time, but other questions emerged — first with a $10,000 check written to the suburb but cashed by Swanson's nonprofit. Swanson later paid the suburb back $5,000 after saying he mistakenly kept too much as reimbursement.
He then retired from Countryside, where officials later claimed his pension had been inflated to $85,000.
Officials hired a law firm, Freeborn & Peters, to push for an internal investigation. That led Countryside to sue the labor attorney, alleging as well that Swanson had committed "extensive wrongdoing."
But, the Tribune found, Swanson still kept raising money — under the support of his new boss, Kankakee County Sheriff Timothy Bukowski — even though Swanson's nonprofit hadn't properly registered with the state for years.
His program sputtered after state inspectors grounded his helicopters for lacking proper maintenance and flight records. The military took back one helicopter in 2011 and the second in 2012.
Swanson was suspended from the Illinois chiefs association after the 2012 Tribune article, and he later quit the group amid its investigation of his alleged ethics violations.
Swanson sued the Tribune last year, alleging its 2012 article contained false statements, including that he was under criminal investigation. Swanson dropped the lawsuit after an IRS agent served a subpoena on his boss to appear before the grand jury that later indicted Swanson.
He did not respond to an email seeking comment. In the past, he has denied wrongdoing. He is set to appear April 2 in federal court in Urbana for arraignment.
jmahr@tribune.com
The federal indictment of former Countryside Chief Timothy Swanson, announced Wednesday, comes 11/2 years after a Tribune investigation detailed numerous questionable actions by Swanson. Those included starting the program with a convicted felon and steering grant money to a side business they'd begun.
The indictment was the latest setback for a chief who'd been given a national policing award for starting the helicopter program, only to have questions of misconduct dog him for years, eventually leading to him leaving the chiefs association and his most recent job with the Kankakee County sheriff's office.
Swanson gained fame in area law enforcement circles in 2005 by campaigning for an area helicopter program to nab criminals and thwart terrorists.
He started a nonprofit, was lent two military-surplus helicopters and solicited government grants and donations under the guise of outfitting and operating the helicopters, according to records. The nonprofit received more than $350,000 in donations by 2012, much of it from area police departments.
But, according to the indictment handed down by a federal grand jury Tuesday, prosecutors say Swanson for years was skimming from the donations and grant money — leading to this week's charges of fraud, money laundering, income tax evasion and filing false tax returns.
Prosecutors say Swanson opened a credit card account for the nonprofit and used it for personal expenses. He diverted $75,000 from the nonprofit and put it into his own money market account, according to the indictment, and later used some of that money to pay his wife's Sears credit card bill. And the indictment alleges he used some of the nonprofit's money to buy a side business, Rotors and Wings Aviation, which became a one-stop shop for fixing, commissioning and learning to fly helicopters at the Kankakee airport.
Swanson also is accused of using the nonprofit's helicopter for a private contract with Chicagoland Speedway for traffic control.
The questionable actions began with the start of the program, when Swanson named to the program a chief pilot with a checkered past, Kurt Kaiser.
The Tribune reported how Kaiser was found guilty but mentally ill of felony criminal damage, and guilty of felony theft, after he stole a helicopter from Midway Airport and abandoned it near his Will County home, where deputies also found stolen construction equipment. Two years before he became chief pilot, Kaiser paid a $371,000 civil fine after prosecutors accused him and his wife of defrauding a federal business loan program.
Kaiser and his wife became members of the nonprofit's board, joining Swanson and his wife, records show. Swanson helped Kaiser land a $63,000 security camera contract with Countryside. And the pair launched several businesses, including Rotors and Wings, the firm named in the indictment.
Kaiser was not accused in this week's indictment of any wrongdoing.
Countryside officials have told the Tribune they were unaware of Kaiser's past at the time, but other questions emerged — first with a $10,000 check written to the suburb but cashed by Swanson's nonprofit. Swanson later paid the suburb back $5,000 after saying he mistakenly kept too much as reimbursement.
He then retired from Countryside, where officials later claimed his pension had been inflated to $85,000.
Officials hired a law firm, Freeborn & Peters, to push for an internal investigation. That led Countryside to sue the labor attorney, alleging as well that Swanson had committed "extensive wrongdoing."
But, the Tribune found, Swanson still kept raising money — under the support of his new boss, Kankakee County Sheriff Timothy Bukowski — even though Swanson's nonprofit hadn't properly registered with the state for years.
His program sputtered after state inspectors grounded his helicopters for lacking proper maintenance and flight records. The military took back one helicopter in 2011 and the second in 2012.
Swanson was suspended from the Illinois chiefs association after the 2012 Tribune article, and he later quit the group amid its investigation of his alleged ethics violations.
Swanson sued the Tribune last year, alleging its 2012 article contained false statements, including that he was under criminal investigation. Swanson dropped the lawsuit after an IRS agent served a subpoena on his boss to appear before the grand jury that later indicted Swanson.
He did not respond to an email seeking comment. In the past, he has denied wrongdoing. He is set to appear April 2 in federal court in Urbana for arraignment.
jmahr@tribune.com
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