Top Illinois auditor fined $5,000 after campaign probe

The Illinois Board of Elections voted Monday to fine state Auditor General Frank Mautino's former legislative campaign $5,000 for failing to provide information during a probe into spending on gasoline and repairs for a personal vehicle.

The board voted 6-2 to impose the fine despite an objection that the state could be getting in the way of a federal investigation. The move came at the recommendation of a hearing officer who found that Mautino's now-defunct campaign fund "willfully" violated an earlier order by the board to update disclosure reports initially filed in 2014 and 2015.

The decision follows a probe that was launched by election officials after a downstate group known as the Edgar County Watchdogs raised questions about why Mautino's fund reported spending more than $247,000 on fuel and car repairs over 16 years, which later expanded to include a look at $30,000 worth of expenditures to a local bank.

The federal government is also investigating, marking a stark turn of events for Mautino, who received overwhelming bipartisan support when lawmakers appointed him to a 10-year term in 2015 as the state's chief financial watchdog. Now, several Republican lawmakers are calling for Mautino to step down.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-frank-mautino-auditor-fine-met-0516-20170515-story.html