Former Bement superintendent faces wire fraud charges

Federal authorities have officially charged former Bement School Superintendent Daniel Brue with four cases of wire fraud. The charges were filed Nov. 3 in the United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, Urbana Division. Four wire transfers made between May 31, 2016 and April 1, 2019 totaling $40,080 were listed.

Brue has been under investigation since the summer of 2019 for allegedly stealing $75,000 from the Bement school district while he was superintendent there for four years and $225,000 from the Meridian district, where he served in the same position from 2013 until resigning in June of 2019.

Investigators say Brue paid himself from a dummy company he formed called Ideal Consulting and Construction Services to siphon funds from both school districts and deposited them to a personal account.

According to documents the defendant submitted fraudulent invoices to Bement and Meridian School Districts, for construction services rendered by Ideal Consulting and Construction Services that the defendant had not provided. The defendant then collected and deposited checks provided as payment for the services never rendered.

The charges also ask for a monetary judgement of $310,353.82 from Brue, who filed for bankruptcy in December of last year.

The Bement school district reached an agreement with Brue in September in which he paid the district $20,000.