Former City of Rochelle Employee Charged with Wire Fraud

A former employee of the City of Rochelle is facing the law as he is today charged with fraudulently obtaining at least $150,000 from a non-profit business association. 58-year-old Scott Koteski of Rochelle is charged with one count of wire fraud. The criminal information filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford gives details of the charge.

John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI announced the charge. Illinois State Police helped in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott R. Paccagnini is representing the government. The investigation reveals that the city selected Koteski to sit on the board of directors of a non-profit business association.

The association provided broadband internet technology to smaller municipalities in northern Illinois. Koteski was selected as treasurer of the association starting in 2011. Koteski, as treasurer, had the portfolio of handling the invoicing and billing of the member municipalities. As of February 2012, he had the signatory authority on the association’s bank account.

The information reveals that from September 2012 through April 2018, Koteski fraudulently obtained from the association at least $150,000. He had used the $150,000 for his own benefit without the association’s knowledge or consent. Koteski deposited the money into his personal account for his personal benefit by writing numerous checks to himself using the association’s bank account.

The information states that Koteski tried to hide his illegal actions by writing false information on the memo line to make it appear the checks were for reimbursement of personal monies Koteski spent for the association. The information also states that in 2018, Koteski made online payments to a credit card company using the association’s bank accounts.