On September 29, 2014 the Illinois Metropolitan Investment Fund (IMET), a cooperative endeavor created to assist Illinois municipalities with their investments, was informed of defaults on certain guaranteed loans caused by fraud on the part of a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved lender.
On October 29, 2014 IMET reported that the Village is at risk of losing up to $278,000 which is the amount of Village money affected by the fraudulent activity. On November 7, the Village withdrew all of its remaining money invested in IMET and placed it in Illinois Funds temporarily until other investment options are explored.
IMET has made multiple disclosures regarding this incident which can be found here:
The Village is one of 293 governmental entities that invests funds in IMET and has been affected by the fraudulent activity.
IMET has advised the Village of its intent to recover the funds. The Village will closely monitor the fund recovery process and will explore options to recover the full amount if IMET is unable to do so. Until this matter is resolved the Village does not have access to this $278,000.
The potential loss of up to $278,000 will have no immediate impact on operations due to the Village's strong financial position.