After a recent U.S. Department of Justice audit found that more than $760,000 in asset forfeiture money may have been spent improperly, Berwyn officials are trying to track down how the money was spent.

Or, Berwyn leaders may be forced to pay substantial sums back — in a time when the city’s coffers are short and staff have been laid off to make up for the shortfalls.

“This is a work in progress,” Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner said. “It’s not like the money is missing. It’s not like somebody loaded their pockets and walked out of town.”

The U.S. Department of Justice audit was conducted on 2004 and 2005 expenditures of asset forfeiture-related cash. According to the Oct. 23 Justice Department letter, Berwyn spent more than the 15 percent the city was allowed in 2004 and 2005 on drug abuse and community programs, improperly used the money to purchase a vehicle for the Fire Department and may have doled out funds for programs not allowed to receive the cash.

Asset forfeiture money may only be used for costs associated with drug abuse treatment programs, drug and crime prevention education, housing and job skills programs, or a nonprofit community-based program or activities, according to the Oct. 23 letter from the Justice Department.

Several items were red-flagged from the city’s 2004 and 2005 expenditures.

Of these in 2004 were:
n $103,887 for salaries
n $60,490 for “senior programs”
n $263,809 for “kids programs”
n $57,905 contribution to the Berwyn Park District
n $30,100 contribution to a nonprofit organization
n $19,694 for a Chevrolet Impala for the Berwyn Fire Department

In 2005, the questioned items were:
n $118,886 in salaries
n $31,760 for “senior programs”
n $121,458 for “kids programs”
n $128,480 contribution to South Berwyn School District 100
n $28,298 contribution to North Berwyn School District 98

Asset forfeiture funds were designed “to provide us a leg up on drug-related crime,” Kushner said.

Using the money to buy and train drug-detecting dogs for canine narcotics units is one way to properly spend the funds.

The $128,480 was paid to District 100 in January of 2005 to reimburse the district for a computer lab at Freedom Middle School, said Tim McGinnis, District 100 assistant superintendent for business services. This expenditure included Microsoft Office software, he said. This reimbursement also covered pupil management software, a pupil and staff identification printing system, salaries for after-school tutoring, salaries for an after-school mentoring program at Heritage Middle School, and salaries and books for after-school library programs, McGinnis said.

Kushner said since he became chief in 2006, he has rejected funding requests to pay teachers’ stipends. The asset forfeiture money cannot be used for salaries, he explained, and he views stipends on par with salaries.

District 98 Superintendent John Belmont said district staff are checking into how they used the money. It most likely was used to fund after-school programs, sports and homework and computer clubs, he said.

“It’s my understanding if it was used for after-school programs for children it would not be a problem,” Belmont said.

Berwyn Mayor Michael O’Connor said one of the red-flagged expenditures, trips for senior citizens, were halted a couple of years ago because the money couldn’t be spent on programs for the elderly.

“The seniors have been very disappointed they were stopped. They were saying ‘Oh those reports were audited,’” he said. “Oh the screaming and hollering when it stopped.”

The money was used to take seniors to Drury Lane in Oak Brook for plays, for example.

The Justice Department’s audit findings were a sort of vindication for him, O’Connor added.

“Political opponents said they would bring the trips back,” he said, but now know they cannot.

Kushner said they will have a difficult time explaining the expenditures for these senior trips.

“They’re not the ones buying drugs off the street corners,” he said. “They’re not the ones trafficking in illegal narcotics.”

Local police and sheriff’s departments often receive property and items seized during a criminal investigation. After asset forfeiture hearings in civil court, these items, or cash seized at the time of a suspect’s arrest, may go into a pot to be used by the municipality or county that wins the forfeiture case.

But municipalities cannot use more than 15 percent of money collected during the two prior fiscal years from asset forfeitures. In Berwyn’s case, the city could spend $266,287 in 2004, and $46,672 in 2005. Instead, the city spent $535,885 in 2004 and $428,882 in 2005, according to the Justice Department.

“The 15 percent rule is something relatively easy to run afoul of,” Kushner said. “You’re getting 2007 forfeitures in 2008.”

Kushner said he believes that many of the expenditures will be traced to drug abuse- and prevention-related purchases or reimbursements. As for the Chevy, he said they may take it for use by narcotics officers after repainting it so they do not have to pay back that money.

“I’m very confident we are in compliance with federal law and state law,” he said.