By Mike Kroll

…And the saga of alleged criminal activity by Knox County Clerk Marc Wong continues to expand. Wong was arrested in his Courthouse office on March 19 and charged with 20 counts of forgery and a single count of theft over $10,000 relating to misappropriation of State Representative Don Moffitt’s campaign account funds. While he awaits his next court date of April 22nd, additional allegations against Wong continue to pile up. The latest concerns Wong allegedly misusing a credit card belonging to the Knox County Republican Central Committee.

When Wong took his newly elected post of County Clerk December 1st, he apparently determined that he needed new office furniture. Almost immediately, new furniture was delivered to the Courthouse for Wong’s use. He told anyone who asked about the furniture that it was his own personal furniture. As it turns out, that may not be the case.

The Galesburg Staples store had charged the Republican credit card for the exact same furniture but those charges were disputed when the bill was received earlier this year. According to Republican Party sources, no such furniture was ordered for party use. Staples company policy is not to retrieve the disputed merchandise but rather to seek payment through collection. According to Knox County Treasurer Robin Davis, the county has neither been invoiced for this furniture nor made any payments to Staples than cannot be properly documented.

The Knox County Republicans are continuing to investigate this and examine their financial activities during the period that Wong was party Vice Chair and had access to party funds. As of Wednesday, the Republicans have not yet determined whether or not to press criminal charges against Wong. Earlier this month, Wong was asked and agreed to step down from all official posts within the Knox County Republican Party.