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Former Welfare Official Charged with ID Theft Again

CSDL, Tue, 10/26/2010 - 03:00

Written by Megan Fox on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A woman who was accused and convicted of identity theft for stealing funds from her employer has been accused again for similar charges. Aurea Picasso was hired as a director of Welfare for Hanover County, near Chicago, while awaiting trial for stealing from the State welfare system while employed there.
However, while serving as welfare director Picasso managed to steal over $200,000 from the county. Furthermore, Picasso was scheduled to be released from state prison on another unrelated charge of id theft when the new charges were filed against her for the theft from Hanover County.
While serving for the State welfare system Picasso was charged with stealing $25,000 from the state system. She was sentenced to 2 years probation for the charge. Brian McGuire, the leader of the Hanover County system fired Picasso on unrelated issues following her conviction on the state charges.
The Illinois state prison system has announced that Picasso will be taken from the prison where she was scheduled for release directly into police custody. From there she will be able to post bail and await trial on the new charges that are pending against her.
McGuire said that he discovered the theft shortly after taking office but has been investigating the issue since firing Picasso. According to reports, Picasso held a shredding party where she and several employees spent an entire day shredding documents that could have incriminated her in the theft. The state had copies of the documents that were shredded.