Rita Crundwell, Dixon Ill. comptroller, stole $30M from city, authorities say

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Rita Crundwell at the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City, Okla., Nov. 2011.

/ AP Photo/American Quarter Horse Journal

(CBS/AP) CHICAGO - Authorities say a finance officer for Dixon, Illinois, was able to steal a staggering $30 million from government coffers to run a nationally renowned horse breeding business. Dixon's mayor pledged new measures to protect the city's finances a day after FBI agents arrested longtime comptroller Rita Crundwell.

Pictures: Official stole millions to buy horses, say Ill. cops

She is accused of using the money to fund one of the nation's leading horse breeding operations and support a lavish lifestyle that has kept her equipped with cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.

A criminal complaint says the siphoning of city funds went undetected for years until another staffer filling in as vacation relief became suspicious and discovered a secret bank account.

The fact that $30 million, much over the city's current annual budget of $20 million, could be stolen without notice left many puzzled.

"Tens of billions of our tax dollars flow through 7,000 plus units of government in Illinois every year. And we can only watch a few of them," said Andy Shaw, president of a Chicago-based corruption watchdog, the Better Government Association. "Most of them don't have inspector generals. Most of them don't have auditor generals. Most of them don't have watchdog groups looking closely. ... It's ripe for rip-offs."

Dixon, a city of about 16,000 people west of Chicago where Ronald Reagan grew up, was especially vulnerable because Crundwell, who has been comptroller since the early 1980s, had control over all of the city's finances. This is a common arrangement in smaller cities and towns.

Federal prosecutors say she stole $3.2 million since last fall alone and misappropriated more than $30 million since 2006.

Between January 2007 and March of this year, she is accused of racking up more than $2.5 million on her personal American Express card - including $339,000 on jewelry - and using Dixon funds to pay back the charges.

Prosecutors say she used $450,000 in stolen funds for operations at her Meri-J Ranch, where she keeps about 150 horses. Crundwell is one of the top horse breeders in the nation.

Crundwell is now free on a $4,500 recognizance bond. A federal judge barred her Wednesday from selling any property while the wire fraud case proceeds and limited her travel to northern Illinois and to Wisconsin where she has her horse ranches.

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by Superstarzchef April 21, 2012 6:11 PM EDT: SB-123....Extremely well articulated, succinct, and point driven response to the news report. My first reaction was to the 4,500.00 Bond issued. Are you kidding me?? *** is 4,500. to a person who has "stolen" $30M? what judge (and I'll use that term loosely here) would even consider that low of a sum? Perhaps it gives me the idea to steal $30m dollars because the penalty is nothing, not even a slap on the wrist. The corruption, scandals, thievery of these "elected" officials is galling-to say the least. As cited above, Pedro Espada-D Bronx NY., used his publicly elected position and his seat in the NYS legislature to "steal" in excess of $27M dollars, and "steered" Millions more to his privately held health clinic-which was staffed by his family members, and cronies.
Disgusting behavior by 'elected' officials like these two examples only worsens the trust the American people have in our Gov't. On some levels, it seems worse then the $1000 hammers bought by the DOD. At least in that instance, someone in the military actually RECEIVED a hammer. I think of all the kids who suffered with text books, or after school programs, lunch, or a myriad of other things while these people live like millionaires. If the Gov't., DA's, etc., continue to treat these crimes as bond-able releases, what example are we setting for the future? It seems that the guy who is stealing the tv gets worse treatment in the eyes of the law.
Lastly, even if tried and convicted, how is it possible that any of these people could EVER pay the court ordered restitution? This is a critical issue with these types of crimes-as no one in their right mind EVER HAS THE EXPECTATION to make $30M in their ENTIRE LIFE!! This is a double loss, as the missing monies are forever 'gone.' Does anyone ever think that Bernie Madoff, or OJ Simpson would repay what they owe? Even a fraction of it? It's lubricious to hope that.
Tougher restrictions must be put in place on ALL levels of government employees--from the president down to the ass't. mayor of some population 11 sized town. Perhaps a triumvirate of check writers signing of on checks or accounts of publicly used funds.; Reply to this comment


by SB-123 April 20, 2012 1:02 AM EDT: This is absolutely amazing. One has to wonder what our elected officials, appointed officials, and all of the employees who work amongst them are doing while they're supposedly at work. It has become blatantly clear that those ranks are filled with far too many thieves and/or gross enablers. Regarding all of the abuse that these people subject the citizenry to, I and many other citizens that I know are well past the point of frustration. Things are at a boiling point in this country. This woman's head should roll; as should everyone else who works in the government ranks and knew, or should have known, what she was doing. Too many people are either stealing from the people they are supposed to be serving and/or sitting around doing next to nothing while on the job. Kudos to the temporary staffer that exposed this, he or she should be named and publicly commended (heck maybe even rewarded...how many more millions of dollars would have been stolen were it not for that intervention?) But one must wonder (and I mean a serious and deep wonder) could no one else over the course of several years not see any of the indicators that this staffer noticed during the course of covering Ms. Crundwell's vacation. Me thinks at minimum a lot of blind eyes have been turned. This country is in serious trouble, although this is mere speculation I don't think that I would be far off if I were to guess that there is probably not one state that hasn't been tainted by a scandal within the last year. Places like Illinois, New York, California, and Florida can't seem to stay off the scandal/corruption radar. It's time for some serious stiffening of penalties for the privileged and well connected such as Comptroller Crundwell...a good place to start is with the revocation of the paltry $4,500.00 bond that has been granted to a likely corrupt and thieving millionaire. I know that at this point the charges are simply allegations; however, the numbers don't lie. That being the case, I'd bet that the case against Ms. Crundwell is probably pretty rock-solid, unless of course you view that case through the eyes of a Crundwell friend...in that case you might call a spot-on admission of guilt (a voluntary and video-recorded admission that wasn't taken under duress mind you) shaky. Above I mentioned Florida, intense focus should be given to that state as well. That being the case I'll end with the below comment, it was previously posted elsewhere, but it is fitting to include it here. The public should be aware.

-----------------------------

Next stop Florida. "Why specifically?", you ask.

Because in Florida, within recent months, numerous and egregious violations of law have been committed that warrant multiple criminal prosecutions and other severe government sanctions. These crimes that have had all types of deleterious effects including, but not limited to, once again placing the integrity of Florida's election results (for 2012) in jeopardy. A few of the things that are central to this issue are:

1
David P. Kreider [Mr. Kreider, a proven criminal, is a corrupt Alachua County Court judge. This criminally-corrupt judge also happens to be both (a) one of the circuit's former prosecutors and (b) a former Division Chief for the State Attorney's Office.]

2
Robert Roundtree, Chief Judge for Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit (he recently replaced the embattled Martha Lott who resigned from her chief judge post subsequent to becoming embroiled in this scandal which has started to implode; her resignation was announced on 04/09/2012 and was reported to have gone into effect on 04/05/2012)

3
Spencer Mann, Chief Investigator for the State Attorney's Office of Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit

4
William "Bill" Cervone, State Attorney for Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit

5
The conspiracy / scandal related to the "Gibson Case"

6
The two irrefutable reports and extensive corroborating evidence that is in the possession of agencies, including those within Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit (and the aforementioned Spencer Mann and Chief Judge's office). The comprehensive reports and evidence span a total of more than 100 pages and in-depthly detail criminal activities carried out under the color of law by criminal/judge David P. Kreider and various other co-conspirators.

http://www.complaints.com/2012/march/14/Corrupt_Judge_David_P._Kreider_now_taints_the_ele_264712.htm

This is the gateway to some serious corruption and a major cover-up attempt.; Reply to this comment

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