Former candidate for state rep. charged with money laundering, theft in Lake County

A former candidate for state representative and current employee at the Lake County Treasurer’s office faces accusations of money laundering and identity theft in north suburban Grayslake.

Trisha A. Zubert is charged with seven counts of financial crimes related to work she did for a private business between December 2016 and September 2018, according to the Lake County state’s attorney’s office.

Zubert, of Volo, was arrested Oct. 31 on a warrant issued by Grayslake police, according to Lake County sheriff’s office spokesman Chris Covelli. She posted 10% of her $30,000 bail and was released later that day, Covelli said.

Lake County sheriff’s office

According to court documents, 39-year-old Zubert used a fake name to divert between $10,000 and $100,000 from contractors to her own PayPal account while she worked as a bookkeeper at the business.

The charges include two counts of identity theft, three counts of theft, one count of money laundering and a county of forgery, according to the documents.

Zubert’s attorney David S. Weinstein declined to comment.

Zubert has worked as an investment administrator in the Lake County treasurer’s office for the last seven months, and was placed on administrative leave after Treasurer Holly Kim learned of the allegations last week, the Lake County News-Sun reported. The charges reportedly don’t involve work she did in the treasurer’s office, Kim told the News-Sun.

The Lake County treasurer’s office did not reply Monday to messages seeking comment.

She ran a campaign for the 64th District seat in the Illinois House of Representatives and lost in the November 2018 election to Tom Weber, who has served on the Lake County Board and the Lake County Forest Preserve District. She ran on a platform of reforming the property tax system, according to a questionnaire she returned to the Sun-Times Editorial Board, which ended up endorsing Weber.

Zubert’s preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 15.