Feds Indict Schaumburg Sales Rep In Chicago School Fraud Case

CHICAGO — A Schaumburg resident is the latest person to be charged in an ongoing federal investigation into an alleged procurement fraud scheme at a Chicago elementary school. Debra M. Bannack, 62, is accused of three counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. Each of the counts is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

Arraignment in federal court in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

An indictment returned Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that Bannack schemed with the principal and business manager of Brennemann Elementary School, located on the North Side of Chicago, to submit false purchase orders to Chicago Public Schools for school materials that Bannack’s company would purportedly supply. In reality, according to the feds, Bannack’s company provided iPhones, iPads, and pre-paid gift cards to the principal, business manager, and others at the school, for their personal use, the nine-page indictment alleges. As a result of the scheme, Bannack and the CPS employees fraudulently misappropriated approximately $75,000 in CPS funds to which they were not entitled, the indictment states.

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Last month, indictments were handed out to former Brennemann School principal Sarah Jackson Abedelal, who was arrested in connection with the scheme in July, when prosecutors initially charged her with embezzling more than $200,000. Former Brennemann School assistant principal Jennifer McBride, of Northbrook, who also goes by "Jennifer Ellen," and former school business manager William Jackson were charged with felony fraud charges in an 11-count superseding indictment.

Abedelal and Jackson have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.