Felner Attny hints at Schroeder involvement

This from the C-J:

...Thomas D. Schroeder of Illinois told the Rock Island Argus Thursday that he acted as a fiscal manager for the National Center on Education and Prevention, which U of L documents show was contracted to receive $450,000 from the grant to provide and administer education surveys.

Schroeder said he signed a contract for the project. But he said he wasn't aware of any work the center produced and never received the remaining $200,000.

"I found out this was being investigated when two federal agents came to my home," he told the Rock Island newspaper.

Schroeder's lawyer, Herbert Schultz, told The Courier-Journal yesterday that he was present at the interview but wouldn't make his client available for further interviews. Schroeder did not respond to numerous messages left at his workplace and home.

Felner's attorney, Scott C. Cox, said yesterday that he had read the Rock Island story and called Schroeder's comments "an interesting version of events."...

...Schroeder said, Felner alerted him about the No Child Left Behind project, and Schroeder signed the contract and returned it to Felner, he said.

He later received a check for $200,000 and another for $50,000 in 2007. When he asked Felner about them, Felner said they were sent mistakenly and Schroeder returned them uncashed at Felner's request, he told the paper. He did not say where he sent the check...

...U.S. Attorney David Huber said he expects the investigation to take at least another month.