BIRKETT’S PUBLIC INTERGRITY UNIT CONTINUES ITS FIGHT AGAINST WHITE COLLAR CRIME

WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced today that his Public Integrity Unit continues its fight against white collar crime with today’s guilty plea to loan fraud, financial institution fraud, forgery and other financial crimes of fifty two year-old Vincent Arena (d.o.b. 10/31/1956) of 1070C Heritage Hill Drive, Naperville as well as yesterday’s indictment of thirty eight year-old Jennifer Derrickson (d.o.b. 11/27/1970), formerly of Warrenville accused of theft over $100,000 and identity theft.

            Arena’s guilty plea this morning in front of Judge Blanche Fawell sentence stems from allegations that in late 2007, Arena, a National Bank Examiner for the United States Department of Treasury, created a fictitious check from a financial institution in Rosemont, Illinois.  Arena then forged the signature of the financial institution’s president and issued the check to All Saints Catholic Academy to assist in the renovation of a campus building.  An investigation into Arena revealed that approximately one year earlier Arena allegedly transmitted by wire a forged court order with a DuPage County case number representing that he was awarded a judgment for $805,000; this forged document was then presented to a finance corporation in conjunction with a residential home loan, which was then approved in an amount in excess of $500,000.  In all, Arena plead guilty to one count of Loan Fraud, one count of Financial Institution Fraud, one count of Wire Fraud and two Counts of Forgery.

            The indictment against Derrickson alleges that she stole more than $100,000 from her employer, Liquid Container LP of West Chicago.  According to the indictment, Derrickson, a receptionist at the company, stole incoming account receivable checks payable to Liquid Container LP and deposited them into a bank account she fraudulently opened under a stolen identity in the name of Liquid Container and an employee of Liquid Container.  It is further alleged that Derrickson then withdrew funds from the account for personal use.  The ten-count indictment alleges theft in excess of $230,000 in all.  Derrickson is facing seven counts of Identity Theft and three counts of Theft over $100,000.

  “White collar crime continues to be a top priority of my office,” commented Birkett.  “Every year millions of dollars are stolen from businesses from trusted employees.  As I have said many times before, white collar crime is not a victimless crime.  Through his actions, Mr. Arena caused financial hardship to several financial institutions as well as officials at All Saints Catholic Academy who were, in reality, relying on non-existent funds to finance repairs to their facility.  Ms. Derrickson is alleged to have stolen the identity of a Liquid Container co-worker along with considerable amount of money causing hardship for the co-worker, the company and its employees.  In each of theses cases, the accused believed they could line their own pockets at the expense of others.  I would like to thank Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kapas-Erdman for her work on these very complicated cases.”

Arenas next court appearance is scheduled for April 30 for return of pre-sentencing report.  Derrickson’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 6^th. 

Members of the public are reminded that these complaints contain only charges and are not proof of the defendant’s guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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