Hospital employee swipes over $218,000 from cafeteria, Illinois police say

An employee swiped more than $218,000 from from an Illinois hospital cafeteria, officials say.

Todd Jagow, a former cafeteria supervisor at Elmhurst Hospital, was charged Monday with theft in a scheme that lasted nearly two years, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Jagow, 43, entered fake mobile money identifier refunds in the same amount of cash he stole to balance the registers, officials say. A mobile money identifier is a seven-digit number that banks issue to complete transactions through a cell phone, according to The Economic Times.

Jagow is accused of stealing $218,630 from February 2018 to January 2020 and used the money for personal expenses, officials say.

“It is alleged that Mr. Jagow treated the coffers at Elmhurst Hospital as his own personal piggy bank, skimming money as he needed,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a news release. “His alleged scheme came to an end however, when authorities at the hospital grew suspicious of his actions and contacted the Elmhurst Police Department.”

Elmhurst is a Chicago suburb.