Donna Langel, village clerk of Round Lake Beach, was charged Friday with embezzling $12,000 in village funds and illegally recording telephone conversations of Mayor Carl Schrimpf.
Langel, 52, who has been clerk for six years, surrendered at the Round Lake Beach police station to face warrants on the charges.
Schrimpf said that he received Langel`s resignation Thursday but added that it has not yet been accepted by the Village Board.
He said the investigation began last fall when $56,000 in checks and cash for village water bills, vehicle stickers, dog tags and other village fees turned up missing.
”The pouch containing the money and checks never got to the bank,”
Schrimpf said. ”Through the process of elimination, we determined that it had disappeared internally.”
George Strickland, an assistant Lake County state`s attorney, said Langel allegedly pocketed $12,000 in cash between Oct. 7 and Nov. 12.
The rest of the money was in checks, which were not cashed or found, Strickland said.
”The checks could not be cashed because they were made payable to the Village of Round Lake Beach,” Strickland said after a court hearing Friday.
Langel, who has lived in Round Lake Beach for 30 years, appeared at a brief bond hearing Friday morning before Circuit Judge William Homer.
Homer released Langel on her own recognizance and scheduled arraignment for Thursday.
Langel told Homer that her only previous encounters with police have been over speeding tickets.
Asked about her job, she told the judge, ”I am unemployed.”
Schrimpf appointed Langel village clerk in 1986, after the post became vacant. She received a salaries of $25,000 as clerk and $9,600 as village budget director.
Three years ago, Langel campaigned with Schrimpf on the Beach Best slate of village candidates and was elected to a four-year term as clerk.
Strickland alleged that Langel eavesdropped and recorded telephone conversations the mayor had in the Village Hall between last fall and April 3. Schrimpf alleged that Langel also eavesdropped on police phone conversations that may have involved the missing funds.
”I feel betrayed,” Schrimpf said Friday. ”This is not the same person we knew years ago.
”She not only offended me, she has also listened in on Police Department calls. We don`t understand why. Something dramatically changed with Donna.”
Strickland said conviction for eavesdropping carries a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison.
The maximum penalty for theft is 7 years in prison and a $10,000 fine, he said.
