Auditor General Frank Mautino – Questions are piling up

Illinois (ECWd) –

It has now been over three weeks since our first communication with Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office regarding his questionable spending of campaign funds.  (First article here)

The longer he is silent, the more it is looking as though he truly has something to hide.  My first communication contained some pretty simple questions yet to be answered.

• Is this vehicle owned by the campaign or a personal vehicle?
• What is the make, model, and year of the vehicle?
• Is the vehicle used for personal use or strictly campaign purposes?

Since Mautino is refusing to answer anyone’s questions on this I figured it was time to ask a few more based on tips we continue to receive regarding his campaign expenditures and bank loans.

1. Is it true you had contributors make checks payable to the Spring Valley City Bank during certain fund raising events to include golf outings?
2. Is it true you routinely wrote checks for cash from your campaign account?
3. Is it true you routinely received comped rooms for you and your family at the Grizzly Jacks Grand Bear Resort in Utica, IL?
4. Is it true you have shredded all your campaign documents to include receipts for expenditures at the Spring Valley City Bank and Happy’s Super Service station?
5.  Is it true many of the payments to the Spring Valley City Bank were to pay towards a SVCB Credit card balance?
6.  Do you or your family have any ownership interest in the Spring Valley City Bank or Happy’s Super Service Center?

We have not had any response from his office to those questions, nor do we expect to hear anything. All indications are, at a minimum, his record-keeping proves he has no place as the State’s Auditor General’ and in light of his refusal to respond to valid questions, maybe it’s time for him to resign.

It is our understanding that he has received numerous requests  for answers to questions from both media and other elected officials.  We have filed a FOIA for those communications and will update as soon as we have more to share.

In the mean time, we again call for Frank Mautino to publicly disclose his campaign records which would allow the public to determine if they can place their trust in this political appointment.