Former suburban library director sentenced for stealing over $770K in public funds: prosecutors

MARKHAM, Ill. - A former suburban library director was sentenced to prison for stealing more than $770,000 over a decade to fund personal expenses.

Xavier Menzies, 52, misappropriated $770,715 from the Markham Public Library between 2009 and 2019, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Most of the money came from payments made by the public library district in Posen, Ill., which allowed Posen residents to use the Markham library and its services. 

Prosecutors said Menzies opened bank accounts in the Markham Public Library's name and deposited checks written to the library.

He then withdrew the funds and used them for personal expenses, including mortgage payments, ticket purchases and auto repairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Menzies hid the scheme by "routinely misrepresenting the library's financial condition to the Markham Public Library's Board of Trustees," the attorney's office said. 

He also increased his annual salary as library director without the board’s knowledge or approval, continuing to collect the inflated salary for three years, prosecutors said.

"Fraud such as this one involving the misappropriation of public funds can be difficult to detect and lucrative to the participant," Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. "Greed and an arrogant belief that he would not be caught or significantly punished are the only explanations for why Menzies chose to engage in this fraud."

Menzies pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal wire fraud charge. On Wednesday, Dec. 18, a judge imposed his prison sentence of two years and ordered him to pay $770,715 in restitution.