After making headlines for using taxpayer money to finance a trip to Las Vegas worth more than $20,000, Dolton, Illinois Mayor Tiffany Henyard lost her village credit card privileges.
All purchases made with the credit card must now first be approved by the Board of Trustees and only Henyard’s Director of Administrative Services has access to the card.
It was the board of trustees’ intention to completely cut off Henyard’s access to the credit card after she spent more than $100,000 on travel last year. At the same time, one of the town’s trustees said the village had a multimillion-dollar deficit that could not be verified because the town under Henyard’s leadership was also years behind on releasing financial audits and updates.
“There are so many people in this village with so many credit cards, they use them like crazy, and that’s why this whole thing had to be completely stopped,” attorney Michael McGrath, who represents Dolton’s trustees, told WGNTV. “It’s thousands and thousands of dollars in Amazon purchases, in PayPal, in Target, in Walgreens, in Jewel-(Osco) to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Henyard has served as mayor of Dolton since 2021 and is accused of embezzling taxpayer funds for her personal expenses, including police officers for her security force. She is currently under investigation by federal authorities. The FBI issued subpoenas in April seeking records related to Henyard’s numerous business activities and the village’s records, including financial documents and security force information.
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Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was hired for $400 an hour to investigate Henyard’s spending habits. Lightfoot’s employment was opposed by Henyard, but trustees overruled her. Lightfoot is scheduled to present her findings on Thursday.
“The village is bleeding,” Trustee Brittney Norwood told Chicago-Tribune“If the residents knew the truth, they would go crazy.”