Glidden man arrested on forgery and theft charges

ASHLAND – Ashland County prosecutors have filed a criminal complaint alleging that a man stole or appropriated a combined $88,000 from two veterans’ posts over the last four years.  Fifty-five-year-old Michael Schwilk of Glidden was the financial officer for both the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #7300 and the American Legion Post #0247 in Glidden. In a criminal complaint filed last month, Schwilk is charged with 21 counts including forgery and theft in a business setting.  The Ashland County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation began in August when members of the VFW Post in Glidden discovered that they had insufficient funds in a bank account that was previously expected to contain $20,000.  According to a criminal complaint, a review of the VFW post’s records found 247 checks allegedly issued by the defendant unlawfully, many to himself. Meanwhile, the American Legion said there were 37 unauthorized transactions on their accounts.  The complaint alleges that Schwilk told investigators he could not explain where the money went and did not have receipts to show how the money was spent.