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Posted: Saturday, 21 November 2009 6:04PM
Bond set at $250k for police union president
Bob Roberts Reporting
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CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A Criminal Court Judge Saturday set bond at $250,000 for the president of the Chicago Police Sergeants Association, one day after he was arrested for allegedly siphoning $600,000 from the group's accounts.
The wife of Sgt. John Pallohusky, fellow Chicago Police sergeant and union treasurer Mary O'Toole, sat in the gallery as Judge Carol Pearce McCarthy set bail.
Grand jurors have also asked to speak with O'Toole, but the fact that Pallohusky and O'Toole are married has presented a problem for investigators.
The investigation continues, and Police Supt. Jody Weis said Saturday that attempts are being made to determine where the money went and if Pallohusky has any of it left.
"This was a very, very large financial scheme," Weis said. "Some in the state's attorney's office say this is one of the most complex matters they've ever looked into in terms of a theft scene. It's really very sad that someone would steal from their own union."
Pallohusky is accused of using the group's credit cards and writing checks on the association to himself in order to gamble in Las Vegas, service an Ameritrade account, dine at Loop steakhouses and buy a home in the posh northwest side Sauganash neighborhood.
His attorney has denied any wrongdoing.
The funds that Pallohusky is accused of siphoning came largely from dues. Each Chicago Police sergeant pays $25 each pay period to the union, which has some 1,200 members, generating approximately $765,000 a year.
Other union officials who are cooperating with the investigation have said that it remains fiscally sound. The union is being run day-to-day by its board of directors and its attorney, Edward Maloney.
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