Candace
Wanzo, a high-ranking official in the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, is under
investigation by the office’s inspector general and has been placed on paid
leave.
The
nature of the investigation isn’t clear. Wanzo, an administrator in the office’s
vehicles division, earned $87,238 last year.
Wanzo
was hired in 1999 even though she pleaded guilty in 1991 to embezzling more than
$230,000 from Southern Illinois University while she was employed by the university.
Her sentence for the theft isn’t clear from online court records, but sentencing
was delayed after her mother collapsed in court when a federal judge said that
prosecutors’ recommendation for 15-month sentence sounded fair, according to a 1992
story published in the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch. The newspaper reported that Wanzo had testified that she
spent the stolen money on cars, clothes, lingerie and vacations.
Henry
Haupt, spokesman for Secretary of State Jesse White, confirmed that Wanzo has
been placed on administrative leave, but he provided no details on why she is
on paid leave.
“We
are not able to provide specific information on personnel matters and
investigations, other than to say we take all allegations of misconduct very seriously
and investigate them thoroughly,” Haupt wrote in an email. “That is why we
created a strong, independent inspector general’s office.”
Haupt
wrote that Wanzo began work at the office in a secretarial position in 1999,
the year that White became secretary of state.
“Secretary
White is troubled by these recent developments,” Haupt wrote. “She was put on
administrative leave, and he applauds inspector general Jim Burns and the
secretary of state’s inspector general’s office for their efforts in this
matter and cannot comment further until the investigation is complete.”
Contact Bruce Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 4-10, 2017.
