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Manager Charged With Bilking Itasca Company Of More Than $1M

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A supply chain manager at a northwest suburban office technology manufacturer defrauded the business of more than $1 million over almost six years, prosecutors allege.

McHenry resident Abel Aguirre, 45, faces four felony theft charges and six felony forgery charges involving his former employer, Itasca-based Fellowes, according to the DuPage County state's attorney's office.

Starting in April 2008, Aguirre used his position at Fellowes to buy materials from his own company, Global Commerce Group, Inc., at inflated prices, siphoning more than $1 million through February 2014, prosecutors said.

He used the same scheme with another supplier, causing Fellowes to waste another $500,000, prosecutors said. Aguirre is also accused of signing someone else's name on paperwork for his company's dealings with Fellowes.

His employer eventually caught on to the alleged scheme and contacted Itasca police. A grand jury returned the 10-count indictment against Aguirre Nov. 22, and he was arrested Thursday.

Aguirre was released from jail after posting 10 percent of a $250,000 bond. He is due in court again Dec. 30.

"If these allegations are proven true, Abel Aguirre used the trust placed in him by his former employer to line his own pockets to the tune of approximately $2 million," DuPage County state's attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. "White collar crime is not a victimless crime. The effects of the theft can cause severe strain on the business and in turn cause employees suffer or lose their jobs.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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