Feds: Former Chicago-area school board president steered $2.7M deal for alleged kickback

AURORA, Ill. – The former president of the East Aurora School District 131 Board of Education is accused of steering a $2.7 million purchase of air purifiers to a vendor in exchange for a $1.3 million kickback.

Former school board president indicted

The backstory:

Annette Johnson, 63, allegedly directed the school district to purchase air purifiers from a vendor in 2021 and voted in favor of the deal while serving as board president, according to the indictment.

The district paid for the air purifiers using federal COVID-19 relief funds, prosecutors said.

Unbeknownst to other school board members, Johnson and the vendor allegedly agreed that more than $1 million from the sale would go to a company owned by Johnson’s boyfriend, where she worked as chief financial officer, according to federal prosecutors.

Within days of a school board vote approving payment to the vendor, the company received a $1.3 million check labeled “commission,” the indictment states.

Johnson was board president at the time of the alleged scheme and remains a member of the school board.

Federal charges

Breakdown:

Johnson faces two counts of honest services mail fraud and one count of honest services wire fraud. Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison.

What’s next:

An arraignment date in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.