Appellate prosecutor: ‘We have not seen any appointment’ in politically-connected worker's compensation fraud allegations

[August 01, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Despite the Illinois Attorney General’s office saying it referred a case of alleged worker's compensation fraud with possible political connections to the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor, no such appointment has been made.

Midday Friday, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said he referred a case of alleged worker's compensation fraud out because there is a typical conflict, something that’s done all the time in different cases he said, and downplayed the significance of his not prosecuting the case as a “nothing burger.”

But, an email Friday morning to Tim Diamond, the attorney general’s criminal enforcement division chief, from David Robinson, chief deputy director of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, proves otherwise.

“[We] have not seen any appointment or any investigation by law enforcement that would initiate an appointment,” Robinson wrote in the email obtained by The Center Square through a public records request. “[The appellate prosecutor’s office] has never done – to my knowledge – any worker's compensation fraud case. Our experience has been that those issues are directed to the AG’s worker’s comp fraud division.”
 

The multipronged story stems around former state employee and former Pritzker campaign worker Jenny Thornley and includes alleged overtime fraud, unfounded allegations of sexual assault, and alleged worker's compensation fraud.

Thornley was the chief financial officer and the personnel director of the Illinois State Police Merit Board. A Springfield Police report of an interview with a witness to alleged overtime theft from September 2020 said Thornley was an “at will employee and was appointed to the position without CMS protection or union projection.” Thornley was fired in July 2021 after being investigated for overtime fraud and making unfounded sexual assault allegations against her then supervisor Jack Garcia.

Private investigations into the situation dating back before the pandemic have already cost taxpayers more than $550,000, with the alleged overtime fraud at more than $67,000. Thornley faces charges for alleged overtime fraud and is back in court in October.

On Wednesday, Raoul’s office told The Center Square it referred allegations of overtime fraud against Thornley to an appellate prosecutor.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul speaks at a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. - Courtesy of BlueRoomStream

“The Attorney General’s office moved the [overtime] case forward by referring allegations of theft and forgery to the State Appellate Prosecutor’s office, and criminal charges are pending against Ms. Thornley as a result,” Raoul press secretary Annie Thompson said.

But, public records show the Illinois Office of the Appellate Prosecutor was requested by Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright and ordered by a judge in April 2021, months before charges were filed against Thornley in the overtime fraud case. The state’s attorney was already representing Thornley’s son as a victim in a separate criminal case pending in Sangamon County, posing a potential conflict.

Separate allegations of Thornley committing worker’s compensation fraud with possible assistance from the governor’s office have been made by Raoul’s Republican opponent Tom DeVore. DeVore has said Raoul is protecting Gov. J.B. Pritzker instead of doing his job and prosecuting worker’s compensation fraud. The Chicago Tribune reports Thornley got more than $70,000 in benefits for work comp and temporary disability.

“Just as we referred the theft and forgery allegations, we have referred allegations that Ms. Thornley committed worker’s compensation fraud to the appellate prosecutor’s office,” Raoul’s office told The Center Square Wednesday. “Our understanding is the matter is under review by that office.”

Asked Friday why he’s not prosecuting the case, Raoul said there is a "typical" and "common" conflict because Thornley made sexual assault allegations against her supervisor.

“And so, we’re engaged … adverse to the person making the allegations,” Raoul said. “After an investigation, it’s revealed that there’s potential for fraud from that employee. It will look like retaliation if you’re prosecuting the person that you’re adverse, so it’s a typical conflict, which is common.”

Raoul said the issue is being made out of nothing by his political opponent, who he said "knows nothing about the office, who knows nothing about how the office works," and said the issue is "a nothing burger."

The Illinois Department of Insurance has a Workers Compensation Fraud Unit that investigates reports of workers’ compensation fraud. Their website says they “may refer cases for prosecution to the Illinois Attorney General or the county State’s Attorney.”

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield. Reuters is solely responsible for this content.