There was enough evidence to charge former WTVP president and CEO Lesley Matuszak with embezzlement of funds and forgery, had she not taken her own life.
That was the probable cause determination of the Peoria County state’s attorney’s office after reviewing the Peoria Police Department’s investigation. WCBU obtained redacted police reports through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The investigation found Matuszak was using the public television station funds as a piggy bank to pay for expensive clothing and jewelry, supplemental health insurance, political donations, and private club membership dues, among other things.
Current WTVP president and CEO Jenn Gordon said this was a sad chapter for WTVP, as someone lost their life.
“We hope this report provides some closure for those in the community,” Gordon said.
What did investigators find?
The station’s board of directors apparently first noticed something was amiss in August 2023, after Matuszak liquidated some $320,000 worth of investments without board approval to pay the station’s bills in July. A $100,000 line of credit from PNC Bank was also tapped into without the board’s prior knowledge.
Suspicious charges were then discovered on a September 2023 credit card statement. Matuszak abruptly resigned on Sept. 27, 2023, and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in her Moss Avenue home a day later.
A police investigation was opened on Nov. 7, 2023. The board gave investigators documents showing $375,017 in “questionable, unauthorized, or improper credit card transactions” by Matuszak made with station credit cards between Nov. 3, 2019, and Sept. 26, 2023.
Among those charges were “large purchases” of clothing and jewelry from retailers like Potter & Anderson Jewelers & Fine Gifts, Bergdorf Goodman, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Documents also showed WTVP credit cards were used to pay for golfing vacations that didn’t seem related to business, and two charity golf event tickets worth $12,000.
Matuszak was also submitting her monthly membership dues to the Country Club of Peoria and the Creve Coeur Club of Peoria as reimbursable expenses. She was allotted a $500 a month payment for vehicle usage in her contract, but police found credit cards were used to make “large gas purchases, car washes, and car repairs.”
Numerous medical, dental, and other insurance payments were also submitted for reimbursement. Investigators found Matuszak switched her health insurance over to Medicaid, and was paying for it through her WTVP credit card.
A Sprint bill belonging to Matuszak’s former employer, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Peoria, was also submitted to WTVP for reimbursement by Matuszak.
Contributions to state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, were made with WTVP funds under Matuszak’s name. Nonprofits are prohibited by law from making political donations. Spain donated $7,000 back to WTVP from his campaign account on Nov. 10, 2023, after the source of the funds was divulged.
Matuszak’s requests for reimbursement were sometimes approved without any documentation, according to the police report. That’s despite other employees being asked to document their expenses.
Police said there appeared to be no questioning of the “obvious personal expenses” submitted by Matuszak, which were all coded as WTVP operational expenses. The name of the person approving these expenses is redacted in the police reports, but the station has previously alleged publicly that person was the former director of finances and human resources. At the time, that was Lin McLaughlin.
Matuszak brought her former Boys & Girls Club of Greater Peoria colleague McLaughlin onboard after she took the new job at WTVP. McLaughlin resigned from WTVP on Sept. 19, 2023. Police said they couldn’t find probable cause for her arrest.
The board’s response to a question about how Matuszak was able to operate this way for years without getting caught is redacted in the police report.
Questions also arose about the three luxury auctions that Matuszak organized in 2020, 2021, and 2022. A large number of items were reported sold, but submitted without documentation.
The station apparently wasn’t making any money on the pricy items sold. Matuszak claimed that the items were bought on consignment, and sold at the same purchase prices set prior to the auction.
But the top three major donors listed for those auctions told police they never received any items. Investigators believed Matuszak forged a donor’s signature on at least one invoice, valued at $100,000, for receipt of jewelry.
The items supposedly purchased by the donors on behalf of WTVP weren’t located by police.
WTVP’s 2023 tax return shows Matuszak was paid a salary of $215,018, with an additional $9,730 in other compensation.
What happened after this?
WTVP expanded rapidly during Matuszak’s tenure, but the public television station suffered major financial hits and reputational damage in the wake of Matuszak’s suicide and the scandal that unfolded.
The station laid off nine employees, cut $1.5 million from its budget, and suspended publication of Peoria magazine, which the station purchased in 2021 for $100,000. Dreams of taking over the operations of public radio station WCBU were also dashed. A fiscal year 2023 audit showed the station bled some $870,000 in that period alone, largely driven by the magazine.
A majority of the station’s board of directors abruptly resigned in January in the face of mounting public pressure, and a new board led by businessman John Wieland was ushered in, along with a cash infusion of at least $1 million to be paid in installments over the next three years to keep the station’s budget in the black.
The station was also eventually able to receive $250,000 on an insurance claim filed for theft of funds.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting withheld Community Service Grant funds from WTVP after questions about the station’s accounting arose. The CPB’s inspector general began an audit of the station in March, and a public release of the findings is expected soon.
Gordon, the station’s current president and CEO, said WTVP has improved its financial controls and accounting practices.
“That ensures fiscal responsibility and oversight is at the core of everything we do at WTVP,” she said.
Founded in 1971, WTVP is the PBS station for the Peoria, Bloomington, and Galesburg areas.
