Betty Loren-Maltese is a convicted felon and the former town president of

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an Incorporated town#Illinois, incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was ...

. She is a member of the Republican Party and received national attention for her role in an insurance scam which robbed the town of $12 million.

Biography

Loren-Maltese was born in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, but she was raised in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area.Live interview with Betty Loren-Maltese (via telephone), '' Good Day Chicago'' (morning newscast),

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV ...

, 29 June 2011. After working as a waitress, realtor, and newspaper publisher, she became active in the politics of Cicero, a suburb adjacent to the west side of Chicago. Her husband, Frank Maltese, was the Cicero township assessor and mid-level mobster; among other duties, he was the driver for Cicero town president

Henry Klosak Henry J. Klosak (November 7, 1925 - December 28, 1992) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives and the Village President of Cicero, Illinois. Klosak was born November 7, 1925. He atten ...

. Frank Maltese was also a bookmaker for the mob and died in 1991. In 1993, Loren-Maltese became town president following the death of Henry Klosak. Loren-Maltese was well liked by many residents for her attempts at community improvement. She was particularly well known for her efforts in helping senior citizens with free services. In 2002 she was found guilty of helping to steal $12 million of the city's funds in an insurance scam. She was sentenced to eight years in a federal prison in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and designated Prisoner #13706-424. She was released on February 26, 2010.Betty Loren-Maltese
"

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...

. Retrieved on March 23, 2011.

References

External links

This American Life: Cicero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loren-Maltese, Betty Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Politicians from Cook County, Illinois People from Cicero, Illinois Living people Politicians convicted of racketeering Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud Illinois politicians convicted of crimes Illinois Republicans American people of Lithuanian descent Year of birth missing (living people) Mayors of places in Illinois Women in Illinois politics