Crime & Safety
Investigation Continues Into Others Involved in Gliniewicz Embezzlement Scheme
Police revealed Wednesday Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz stole from the Fox Lake Explorers program before killing himself.

Police revealed Wednesday Gliniewicz, a 30-year veteran of the Fox Lake Police Department, shot himself in a “carefully staged suicide” after he’d spent years stealing from the Explorer program, which he ran. George Filenko, the commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, said Gliniewicz stole from his Explorer’s post to the tune of “five figures.”
Gliniewicz, whose salary in 2015 was $96,345.60, spent the stolen money on such things as travel expenses, mortgage payments, a gym membership, adult websites and loans to his friends, Filenko said.
Fox 32 News on Wednesday night said police are investigating whether Gliniewicz’s wife, Melodie, and son, D.J., were also involved in embezzling funds from the youth program. Investigators said some of those funds could have been used to cover a $9,000 trip to Hawaii taken by Glniewicz and Melodie, according to WGN News.
Melodie Gliniewicz was a part of the Explorer program and both D.J. and Melodie are being questioned by authorities, according to CBS Chicago.
Police have yet to publicly confirm reports of who else could have been involved in the embezzlement scheme but did say they were investigating two individuals.
The investigation has been turned over to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to CBS Chicago.
The full CBS Chicago video report can be viewed below.
You can read all of Patch’s coverage on the Gliniewicz shooting and investigation here.
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