Trouble at BBBS–Former Board President “Saddened by the News” But Did Nothing Wrong
1340 WJOL has learned that the Will County Sheriff’s Department is investigating financial discrepancies at Big Brother Big Sisters of Will & Grundy Counties. The Joliet Police filed a report after a complaint was made by some members of the board when they learned of potential monetary issues.
Multiple board members of BBBS are or were members of the Joliet Police Department so Joliet asked Will County to take over the investigation to avoid any conflicts.
WJOL talked with the new head of the board, former Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, who would not elaborate on the amount of money involved or what irregularities were discovered.
Roechner would confirm after the discovery was made, the board contacted the CEO Ted Brodeur and he abruptly resigned. Board president Neil Narine also resigned when questioned by the board.
WJOL did make contact with Brodeur but he did not want to comment at this time. Narine did want to clear his name. Speaking exclusively with 1340 WJOL and wjol.com, Narine admits the timing of his departure is bad, but insists he did nothing wrong,
I am saddened by the news of an investigation into financial matters at Big Brothers Big Sisters. While timing is unfortunate my resignation from the Board of Directors was not caused by the allegation made against an employee. I had no knowledge of nor involvement in any alleged financial mismanagement at the Agency. I have enjoyed serving as a volunteer since 2013 and encourage our community to continue to support the mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.
Broduer has been the CEO of the organization since 2019 after retiring from the Joliet Park District where he was employed for over 25 years and served in an administrative role upon retirement. Narine has appeared as a political commentator for 1340 WJOL but is not employed by AlphaMedia USA.
BBBS’s role in the community is to match “littles with bigs” and currently they have 170 matches in the counties that they serve.
