April 19, 2024
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Plainfield Township Board OK’s external review of finances after supervisor charged with fraud

Official said alleged misconduct did not involve township government

By Alex Ortiz
Plainfield Township Supervisor Anthony Fremarek presides over a Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 21, 2021, just a week after being charged with stealing about $1.3 million from a former employer.

Plainfield Township Supervisor Anthony Fremarek presides over a Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 21, 2021, just a week after being charged with stealing about $1.3 million from a former employer. (screenshot)

The Plainfield Township Board of Trustees approved an external review of its finances in the wake of its supervisor being charged with stealing from his former employer.

Supervisor Anthony Fremarek was charged last week with defrauding the information technology consulting firm he worked for until 2019 for about $1.3 million, according to Joseph Fitzpatrick, the assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois.

The township board called a special meeting for Thursday just days after the news broke of Fremarek being charged. Township Administrator Chuck Willard said last week the allegation of misconduct against Fremarek had nothing to do with township government.

Still, officials wanted to take action to assuage the public and double check the township’s financial records.

Wermer, Rogers, Doran & Ruzon, an accounting firm in Joliet, was hired to conduct the review, according to Willard. He said the firm was “one of the best in the area.”

The review is meant to “let the public rest assured that things are fine here,” Willard said. He added that the township attorney advised officials to bring in an independent entity to review “policies and controls,” in light of the charges against Fremarek.

Willard did not have an exact timeline for when the firm would submit a report on its findings, but he estimated it would take a month or two. A township document says the review will cost the township between $3,000 and $7,000.

Fremarek presided over the brief meeting Thursday night and did not address the charges against him. No public comments were made and the meeting was held via Zoom for members of the public to attend virtually.

The supervisor’s former employer has also tried to reassure its stakeholders of its standing in the wake of the charges.

The company Fremarek allegedly stole from, PSC Group in Schaumburg, said in a statement last week it remains in “strong financial shape” and that no customer information or data had been compromised. Fremarek worked at the firm from 2003 until 2019, according to his LinkedIn page.

“We wish to reassure our clients and valued business partners that PSC Group reported all accounting discrepancies promptly to investigators,” PSC said in the statement. “We also fully cooperated with the investigation that has resulted in the charges against Mr. Fremarek.”

PSC added the company will cooperate “in every possible” way with the investigation.

Willard said the township won’t take any further action related to the charges against Fremarek.