Orville Enoch Hodge (October 1, 1904 – December 29, 1986) was the Auditor of Public Accounts (predecessor to the Office of Comptroller) of the state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...

from 1952 to 1956. During his term in office, he

embezzled Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a typ ...

$6.15 million of state funds, mainly by altering and forging

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s that were paid on the state's account.

Biography

Hodge was born in

Anderson, Indiana Anderson, named after Chief William Anderson, is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Anderson, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses Madison County. Anderson is ...

, and from the age of four was raised in

Granite City, Illinois Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 27,549 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the third-largest cit ...

. He and his family owned land and businesses in that area. In 1946, he married Margaret Coudy of Granite City with whom he had one son. He was elected to the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 repr ...

, where he served three terms. He was elected Auditor in 1952. He was a Republican.

Embezzlement

His scheme started shortly after his election, when he forged

accounting records Accounting records are key sources of information and evidence used to prepare, verify and/or audit the financial statements. They also include documentation to prove asset ownership for creation of liabilities and proof of monetary and non monetar ...

and created a false

paper trail An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

to convince the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818 ...

that his office was

insolvent In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company (debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet ins ...

. The legislature gave his office a $525,000 emergency appropriation, which Hodge kept for himself. With the funds that he stole from the state, Hodge purchased two private jets, 30 automobiles (including a Lincoln, four

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

s and a

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imported from Britain), and multiple properties in Florida and Illinois. The

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a typ ...

scheme was exposed by the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'', whose reporting team (including George Thiem) was awarded a

1957 Pulitzer Prize The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1957. Journalism awards *Public Service: ** The ''Chicago Daily News'', for determined and courageous public service in exposing a $6.15 million fraud operating in the office of the State Auditor of Illi ...

for their investigation. Upon indictment, Hodge, who was facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, agreed to forfeit all of his assets and plead guilty to 54 federal and state charges of bank fraud, fraud, embezzlement, conspiracy to defraud and forgery. He was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

. He was released in 1970 and went to work at his sister's hardware store, then as a car salesman and finally as a real estate agent in Granite City until his death at the age of 82 in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,808. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois Territory. ...

.Illinois Comptroller
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Aftermath

The Hodge scandal played a role in the decision by Illinois lawmakers to abolish the office of the State Auditor in the new state constitution of 1970. The office was replaced by the new office of the Comptroller.

References

External links

History of the Illinois Comptroller's Officebio and picture in 1953 official Illinois state handbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodge, Orville 1904 births 1986 deaths American fraudsters People from Granite City, Illinois Politicians from Anderson, Indiana Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Auditors of Public Accounts of Illinois Illinois politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century American politicians