Springfield
school board member Adam Lopez is under criminal investigation.
“We
have a report concerning Mr. Lopez, but we are not able to comment on it at
this time,” said Lt. Brian Oakes of the Springfield Police Department. “It’s an
open investigation.”
Oakes
declined to state the nature of the investigation into Lopez, who has retained counsel. Daniel Noll, Lopez’ lawyer, says that his client has done nothing wrong, hasn’t been interviewed by police and doesn’t know why cops are interested in him.
“While the Springfield Police Department has confirmed a pending investigation of Mr. Lopez, we are unaware of both the nature of the investigation and the accusation against him,” Noll said. “Mr. Lopez denies any wrongdoing and looks forward to being vindicated in the investigation, whatever its form.”
Multiple
sources tell Illinois Times that
Lopez has been accused of financial impropriety, including suspected thefts
running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Lopez,
a financial planner, left the employ of Country Financial last Friday,
according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, a nationwide private group
that regulates security brokers and salespeople. A spokesman for the company told the State Journal-Register that Lopez was terminated after the firm received complaints from customers and found “irregularities” in accounts handled by Lopez.
Lopez’ registration with the Illinois
Securities Department, an arm of the Secretary of State’s office that regulates
the securities industry, was terminated on Friday, which is standard procedure
when someone who sells securities leaves the employ of a securities firm. David
Finnegan, senior enforcement attorney for the Illinois Securities Department,
said via email that there is no public disciplinary action against Lopez, and
he could neither confirm nor deny any pending investigation.
Contact Bruce
Rushton at brushton@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2018.
