DuPage Co., IL. (ECWd) –
Press Release
Contact Information: Media Coordinator: 630-407-8160
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Lisle Woman Accused of Forging Petitions for Seat on COD Board of Trustees
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced today that Rafath Waheed, 61 (d.o.b. 7/21/1955) of 6193 Hickory Drive, Lisle, has been charged with submitting forged petitions to earn a seat on the College of DuPage (COD) Board of Trustees. On March 14, 2017, a $10,000 with 10% to apply arrest warrant was issued for Waheed. Last night, Waheed turned herself in to authorities and was released after posting the necessary $1,000, or 10%, of her $10,000 bond.
It is alleged prior to December 19, 2016, Waheed collected signatures on petitions for her to apply as a candidate for the COD Board of Trustees. It is further alleged that at some point in time, Waheed made photocopies of two completed signature portions of the petitions and then completed the candidate information by hand. It is further alleged that she then notarized those petitions as authentic. It is alleged that Waheed then filed these petitions, along with the originals, with the proper COD authorities. Her alleged scheme was uncovered during a hearing on an objection that was filed against her petitions.
“The bedrock of our entire system of government is free and fair elections,” Berlin said. “It is alleged that Mrs. Waheed, in an effort to win a seat on the COD Board of Trustees, attempted to circumvent one of the basic requirements for candidacy – filing petitions with the correct number of authentic signatures. I would like to thank investigator Jim Duffy as well as Assistant State’s Attorney Diane Michalak for their work on this case.”
In all, Waheed is charged with two counts of Forgery, two counts of Issuing a Forged Document and four counts of Perjury. All offenses are a Class 3 Felony.
Waheed’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 12, 2017, in front of Judge Liam Brennan.
Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove her or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Press Release (here)
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UPDATE:
We reported on this incident when it originally happened, to include posting a link to the video of the College of Dupage Electoral Board Hearing.
In the Electoral Board Hearing, Rafath Waheed blamed COD citing, “obfuscation of the electoral process” on the part of COD as it relates to her not filing a statement of candidacy. You can see that statement at the 48:40 mark of this video. For those not familiar with the meaning of the word obfuscation; “the action of making something obscure, unclear, or unintelligible.”
In addition to blaming the school for her non-compliance, she admitted under oath to being the one who copied petitions and then signed them and had them notarized affirming they were original signatures, which they were not, just as we said in our first article on this.
57:25 of the video is where the information comes to light regarding the copies of petitions being submitted. The candidate first claims she DID not photocopy them and then when questioned further admits she did and that no one else was given her papers.
After about 30 minutes of creating excuses and eventually admitting to things she did – made copies of signatures and turned them in, she reads a prepared statement which was her withdrawal from the race. You can watch that starting at the 1:19:04 mark of the video.
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5 Comments
Toni Priore
Posted at 21:28h, 07 AprilI read about the mugshot and her hijab and the people commenting were so extremely rude. Without even knowing whether she is a United States citizen or not people were saying she should go back to her country and that she has to follow our laws now. It was just nice to see that the people commenting here kept on point and didn’t push their bigotry. Nice to see there are still adults around who don’t resort to rudeness.
Concerned...
Posted at 15:00h, 04 AprilBob Berlin’s office refused to help a rape victim who helped put a pedophile in prison: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20170404/news/170409694/
Note the line about the requested certification, which Berlin’s office refused.
Dennis Finegan
Posted at 10:00h, 17 MarchI believe that Ms. Waheed is either extremely careless, a great actor, or committed fraud. Usually I would vote for the latter, but after my third viewing of her hearing, I would say she was extremely confused & careless. If these are grounds for fraud, then let the lawsuit go forward. If you go by the transcript only, that is probably the decision you would reach; however, if you view the video, I think her total confusion and nervousness comes to light.
Maybe I’m way off base here. By rule of law, she should be prosecuted. Now it is up to the court and I’m sure justice will prevail.
I’m sure that other election petitions have had more blatant problems in the past (statewide, not just in DuPage) & wonder why this particular one is being prosecuted while others are allowed to just fall by the wayside. Shouldn’t, then, every petition that has problems be prosecuted? How far do we go?
My expertise is in mathematics, not law, & I’m sure my naivete shows. Listen & learn I guess.
Keep up the good work guys. The law is, well, the law.
Vette
Posted at 18:00h, 16 MarchDoes this mean that the DuPage County State’s Attorney will start to go after their crony politicians who do these same things or worse?
Or will true investigations and charges only be applied to people outside the structure?
Mark Misiorowski
Posted at 13:20h, 16 MarchDear Sir/Madam:
Thank you for your January 15, 2017 article entitled “College of DuPage-Candidate Admits photocopying petitions-blames COD for her failure to comply with law.” Your January 15th article once again positioned a bright spot light on the College of DuPage (COD); in so doing, you highlighted an extremely important matter that warranted additional investigation and oversight.
In this regard, you fulfilled a vitally important tenet set forth in the First Amendment–to keep citizens informed. All DuPage residents, DuPage voters, and College of DuPage Students benefited from your reporting. Keep Up the Great Work!!!