HOA Nut House

By BILL BIRD, wbird@scn1.com

BOLINGBROOK -- The former manager of a village homeowners' association remained free on bail Wednesday, after being arrested and charged with embezzling more than $100,000 from that organization.

A trial date is pending in Will County Circuit Court in Joliet in the case against James P. Siblik, ex-manager of the Indian Oaks Townhome Owners Association.

Siblik, 61, of 505 Sundance Drive, faces trial on five felony counts of theft by deception, Bolingbrook police confirmed Wednesday. His bond was set Aug. 28 at $250,000, and he was later freed on $25,000 bail.

Indian Oaks is a subdivision of townhouses. Its not-for-profit owners association was incorporated in October 1971, with a board of directors consisting of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.

Siblik, who is unemployed, recently served as the association's manager, according to a Bolingbrook police official who declined to be identified.

The alleged embezzlement occurred between the middle of 2005 and early 2006, when Siblik "exerted unauthorized control over association funds" totaling more than $100,000, the police spokesman said. He declined to elaborate.

Police detectives, with assistance from the Will County state's attorney's office, investigated Siblik and his activities for about a year before charging him in the case, the spokesman said.

Legal records indicated Siblik was president of the owners association in March 2004, when its members agreed to sell a piece of their common property. A video store was later built on that land.

Siblik's only prior run-in with the law appears to have occurred in January 2006, when he received a speeding ticket from Naperville police, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.

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