The Illinois State Board of Elections is looking into an allegation that Des Plaines Mayor Marty Moylan—recently elected to the General Assembly—pocketed some campaign contributions rather than report them to the state agency as required by law.
On August 30, the state board contacted the mayor and his fund, Citizens and Friends for Moylan for Mayor, after receiving a tip from the fund’s now-former treasurer Martin Mersch, according to interviews and public records.
Mersch has alleged that cash—the amount is unknown—was collected at Moylan fundraisers in 2011, yet some of the donations weren’t deposited in the bank or declared on the disclosure statements that each fund must file with the state agency.
Somebody using campaign donations for personal use without declaring them could not only run into trouble with the state board, but also the Internal Revenue Service if the money is treated as income and taxes aren’t paid.
Moylan denies the allegations and says he is cooperating with the state board.
“At the events, if cash comes, we put it in the bank,” he says. “We report everything, that’s the way it is.”
Moylan, the Des Plaines mayor since 2009, will soon resign to begin his first term as Democratic state representative of the 55th District, which includes parts of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Schaumburg, Mount Prospect and Arlington Heights.
Moylan could be fined if the allegations are proven to be true, says Andy Nauman, deputy director of the board of election’s division of campaign disclosure.
“We have an inquiry out there,” he says. “But unless we find out more information it’s not going to go beyond the inquiry.”
Mersch said he did not want to comment publicly on the matter.