CHICAGO (CBS) — Two more former administrators Brenneman Elementary School in the Uptown neighborhood have been indicted on federal charges, seven months after the principal was arrested for running a $200,000 overtime fraud scheme.
Former Brennemann principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal was charged last July with 10 counts of wire fraud, accused of telling some school employees she would authorize overtime pay for hours they didn’t work, and telling them the money would be used for school expenses, while she instead converted the funds for her own personal use.
Abedelal was arrested Wednesday morning. She is set to make a federal court Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather K. McShain.
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A superseding indictment announced by federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled a new angle to the fraud at Brennemann, accusing former assistant principal Jennifer McBride and former business manager William Jackson of not only assisting Abedelal with the overtime scheme, but with submitting more than $45,000 worth of false purchase orders and invoices for office and school supplies to conceal the receipt of iPhones, IPads, and approximately $30,000 in gift cards for Abedelal’s personal use.
The new indictment charges Abedelal, 58, with one count of wire fraud; McBride, 40, with four counts of wire fraud; and Jackson, 37, with five counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
All three face up to 20 years in prison for each count of the indictment.
