Convicted Cicero Town President Gambled Large Sums Says Prosecution

Betty Loren-Maltese, the former Cicero Town President, who was convicted of participating in an insurance fraud scheme last August along with six other defendants, apparently gambled heavily over the past three years, wagering as much as wagered $18.8 million at casinos in Illinois, Indiana and Nevada.

Federal prosecutors made those allegations against her at a sentencing hearing. They oppose a lenient sentence for Loren-Maltese, who has said that her sentence should be mitigated as she has a five-year old adopted daughter to care for.

She was a key defendant in a scheme set up by her late husband, Frank, who allegedly had close connections with local mobsters, to set up and run a phony insurance agency, which kept around $12 million paid by Cicero for town employees health insurance between 1992 and 1996. She was ordered to repay $3.5 million, a sum which, according to her lawyer, she doesn’t have. She faces a 20-year maximum prison sentence.

According to an AP report federal prosecutors filed documents challenging Loren-Maltese’s claims to a “familial commitment.” The papers allege that she, “gambled in the early morning, late morning, early evening, late evening; pick any hour of the day and it will probably be found in this summary chart.” They asked U.S. District Judge John F. Grady to consider this conduct in determining her sentence, which is due to be pronounced next week.