By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO – The federal wire fraud case against a former McLean County Board chairman now has a deadline.
Lawyers for Matt Sorensen and his co-defendant, Navdeep Arora, told federal Judge Ronald A. Guzman June 23 that they need more time to either resolve the charges or decide to go to trial.
The judge told the lawyers that the final status hearing will be set for 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 30. The parties will have to either announce a plea deal or set a date for trial.
Federal indictments from August 2015 allege that Sorensen and Arora defrauded State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, Ill., of more than $1 million in false expenses. Sorensen was a consultant for State Farm, while Arora was working for consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The alleged crimes took place between 2003 and 2012.
Arora was arrested in January, and Sorensen surrendered at a later court hearing.
Sorensen resigned from his chairman position after the indictments were made public.
Both men are free on bond. Arora attended the June 23 hearing, but Sorensen did not.
