A bathtub is at the center of a corruption case targeting a former public works director in the village of Westchester that’s part of a broader investigation, records show.
Scott Russell, who no longer works for the west suburb’s government, was charged late last year with theft of governmental property, forgery and official misconduct. He’s accused of authorizing the purchase of a bathtub with a village credit card and having municipal employees install it in a home being renovated and belonging to a government official, according to records and interviews.
According to the indictment charging Russell, “Defendant knowingly ordered and authorized the use of a village of Westchester credit card to make a personal purchase of a bathtub intended for private use which was not a valid village of Westchester expense.”
According to other court records, Russell “authorized and directed” a village employee who wasn’t named “to perform personal plumbing services at the private residence of his supervisor” while “on village time.”
Russell, who lives in Riverside, is accused of having “submitted a coded credit-card statement” to a village official “as part of a scheme to defraud” the municipality by conveying “the subject credit-card charge was a valid village expense.”
Court records say the bathtub is part of a broader investigation that authorities say is ongoing and won’t talk about.
In 2021, the village of Westchester bought two commercial buildings for several million dollars to renovate them into a new municipal complex. The renovations began but were then halted and scrapped, and the buildings were put back up for sale, officials say.
The circumstances of those original plans have drawn the interest of investigators with the Illinois State Police and the Illinois attorney general’s office.
“There is currently an ongoing investigation into other individuals and/or companies regarding their conduct in the bidding and awarding of contracts and making payments as they relate to the 2021 relocation of the Village Hall, Police Department and Building Department by the Village of Westchester,” an assistant attorney general involved in Russell’s case said in a May 30 court filing.
An Illinois State Police spokeswoman says the agency “can confirm we are investigating allegations involving Westchester officials. However, to preserve impartial and transparent investigations, we are not in the position to comment on the details.”
Paul Nosek, who was Westchester’s village manager at the time the buildings were bought, has since resigned and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Sources familiar with the project say questions remain about why village staff members initially provided an estimate on the renovation costs that were later found to be “majorly off base.”
There are also questions about whether certain village officials had “relationships with contractors” involved in the renovations, a source says.
Asked about the investigation, Westchester Village President Greg Hribal says: “The village of Westchester intends on continuing to comply with the request of the Illinois State Police to not publicly discuss the ongoing investigation that was initiated by the sitting village board in August of 2022.
“Staff has fully cooperated in providing information as requested throughout the investigative process, and I, as village president, have been made aware that all individuals being investigated are no longer affiliated with the village as employees, companies, organizations or currently sitting elected officials.”
Russell’s attorney Mike Leonard says of the investigation: “Scott worked there for a couple decades and was a beloved employee, and they’re trying to leave him holding the bag for alleged improper expenditures when he did nothing wrong.”