Former Cook County prosecutor, two Chicago police officers charged with overtime theft

A former Cook County prosecutor and two Chicago police officers have been indicted in an investigation of allegedly bogus overtime payments.Officer Jason Arroyo, 40, and Detective Edis Skrgic, 35, each face two counts of theft of more than $100,000 from a government entity and two counts of official misconduct for overtime collected between May 2019 and August 2021.Former assistant state’s attorney Ashley Moore, who now lives in Idaho, faces counts of theft, official misconduct and obstruction of justice for allegedly providing false information in August 2021 to a Chicago police sergeant regarding notifications for the officers to appear in court in a murder case, according to the indictments.Moore, 46, resigned in October 2021. Her last assignment was in the state’s attorney’s felony trial division at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 2650 S. California Ave., officials said.“The Cook County state’s attorney’s office is committed to the work of justice and holds all employees to the highest standards,” said Tandra Simonton, spokeswoman for State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. “We do not condone the actions of this former assistant state’s attorney and fully cooperated with this investigation as we continue our critical work for everyone in Cook County.” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office prosecuted the case at the request of Foxx.The overtime requests were related to the 2020 prosecution of Anthony Robinson for the murder of his girlfriend, 21-year-old Amber Smith. Robinson was found guilty at trial in 2023 and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.The indictments don’t provide details about how the alleged scam worked.A police spokesman said the two officers have been stripped of their police powers and placed on administrative duty. Moore and the officers were set to make their first appearance in court on the charges Wednesday, but the hearing was postponed after they asked to substitute the judge initially assigned to the case. All three now are scheduled to make their first appearances Thursday.City payroll data show Skrgic makes $121,500 a year as a detective and Arroyo makes about $106,000 as a police officer. Illinois Answers, the arm of the Better Government Association, lists Skrgic’s base salary as a detective in 2020 as $91,000 with $68,000 in “extra pay.” In 2019, his salary was about the same but he got $70,000 in extra pay, according to Illinois Answers. Similar data were not available for Arroyo.Skrgic declined comment. Arroyo and Moore couldn’t be reached.