"Ill. official pleads not guilty to stealing $53M" by Robert Ray Associated Press / May 7, 2012
ROCKFORD, Ill.—The former comptroller of a small northern Illinois city pleaded not guilty Monday to charges alleging she stole more than $53 million of the public's money to fund a lavish lifestyle and create one of the nation's foremost horse-breeding operations.
Rita Crundwell and her attorney, Paul Gaziano, refused to comment after leaving the federal courthouse in Rockford, where she pleaded not guilty to a single count of wire fraud. Crundwell, who is free on a recognizance bond, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that since 1990, the 58-year-old Crundwell stole more than $53 million from Dixon, where oversaw public finances as the city comptroller since the 1980s, by diverting it to an account she had set up for personal use and misleading city officials.
Authorities say Crundwell bought luxury homes and vehicles, and spent millions on her horse-breeding operation, RC Quarter Horses, LLC, which produced 52 world champions in exhibitions run by the American Quarter Horse Association.
Prosecutors say her scheme unraveled only when a co-worker filling in for Crundwell while she was on an extended vacation stumbled upon the secret bank account.
Her arrest stunned tiny Dixon, a small city along a picturesque vein of the Mississippi River about a two-hour drive west of Chicago in Illinois farm country. Its 16,000 people are largely lower-middle class, working at factories, grain farms, the local prison and a hospital....
It always does.
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And why the about face?
"Ex-comptroller pleads guilty in $53 million scam" by JASON KEYSER | Associated Press, November 15, 2012
ROCKFORD, Ill. — A longtime bookkeeper pleaded guilty Wednesday to allegations she embezzled more than $50 million from a small city in Illinois to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a nationally known horse-breeding operation.
Rita Crundwell, 59, the former comptroller of Dixon, pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in federal court in Rockford. She was allowed to remain free until her Feb. 14 sentencing hearing. Prosecutors say she siphoned money into a secret bank account while overseeing the city’s finances.
Crundwell did not make a statement during the hearing and answered the judge’s questions with ‘‘yes’’ and ‘‘no.’’ She left the courthouse without speaking to reporters, but her lawyer gave a brief statement that emphasized her cooperation with prosecutors.
‘‘Rita Crundwell today admitted her guilt, saving the government the burden and expense of a lengthy trial,’’ attorney Paul Gaziano said. ‘‘Rita, since the day of her arrest, has worked with the government to accomplish the sale of her assets, including her beloved horses, all with the goal of hoping to recoup the losses for the city of Dixon.’’
Crundwell’s guilty plea in the federal case enables the US Marshals Service to start selling off millions of dollars of assets still in her name, including about $450,000 worth of diamonds and other jewels, ranch land, and a house in Florida.
The marshals already auctioned dozens of Crundwell’s horses and other property, raising $7.4 million, but they say they doubt they’ll recover the full amount she stole.
Gary Shapiro, the acting US attorney for northern Illinois, said Crundwell’s case is ‘‘one of the most significant abuses of public trust ever seen in Illinois.’’
And that is saying a lot for the most corrupt state in the nation.
Dixon Mayor James Burke said independent auditors who reviewed the city’s books over two decades failed to catch on to Crundwell’s scheme.
Lessons have been learned and changes have been made, he said.
The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Crundwell’s plea agreement also requires her to pay full restitution.
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Illinois Embezzler
Rita Crundwell, 59, the former comptroller of Dixon, pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in federal court in Rockford. She was allowed to remain free until her Feb. 14 sentencing hearing. Prosecutors say she siphoned money into a secret bank account while overseeing the city’s finances.
Crundwell did not make a statement during the hearing and answered the judge’s questions with ‘‘yes’’ and ‘‘no.’’ She left the courthouse without speaking to reporters, but her lawyer gave a brief statement that emphasized her cooperation with prosecutors.
‘‘Rita Crundwell today admitted her guilt, saving the government the burden and expense of a lengthy trial,’’ attorney Paul Gaziano said. ‘‘Rita, since the day of her arrest, has worked with the government to accomplish the sale of her assets, including her beloved horses, all with the goal of hoping to recoup the losses for the city of Dixon.’’
Crundwell’s guilty plea in the federal case enables the US Marshals Service to start selling off millions of dollars of assets still in her name, including about $450,000 worth of diamonds and other jewels, ranch land, and a house in Florida.
The marshals already auctioned dozens of Crundwell’s horses and other property, raising $7.4 million, but they say they doubt they’ll recover the full amount she stole.
Gary Shapiro, the acting US attorney for northern Illinois, said Crundwell’s case is ‘‘one of the most significant abuses of public trust ever seen in Illinois.’’
And that is saying a lot for the most corrupt state in the nation.
Dixon Mayor James Burke said independent auditors who reviewed the city’s books over two decades failed to catch on to Crundwell’s scheme.
Lessons have been learned and changes have been made, he said.
The wire fraud count carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Crundwell’s plea agreement also requires her to pay full restitution.
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Related: Sunday Globe Special: Illinois Embezzler
Because she cooperated?
"Bookkeeper who stole $53M gets nearly 20 years" by DON BABWIN, Associated Press / February 14, 2013
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A former city bookkeeper was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison Thursday for embezzling more than $53 million from her Illinois community, in what ranks as one of the worst abuses of public trust in the state’s corruption-rich history.
‘‘You stole an astronomical amount of money from the city, you crippled the city,’’ U.S. District Judge Philip Reinhard told Rita Crundwell, as he sentenced her to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison — just shy of the maximum 20 years. She was handcuffed and led away sobbing after he ordered her into custody immediately, saying he was concerned she could have money hidden and flee.
Crundwell, 60, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for embezzling money from the city of Dixon from 1991 until her arrest last April. She tearfully apologized in the Rockford federal courtroom.
‘‘I am truly sorry to the city of Dixon, to my family and my friends,’’ Crundwell said in court, her voice quivering.
Now she is sorry.
For more than two decades as comptroller for Dixon, a northern Illinois community best known for being the site of Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home, Crundwell siphoned city funds to pay for properties, vacations, luxury cars and a horse-breeding operation that became nationally renowned.
‘‘You showed a much greater passion for the welfare of your horses than you did for the people of Dixon who you represented,’’ the judge said before imposing a sentence that means Crundwell will not be eligible for release until she is 77 years old.
Crundwell’s apology marked the first time she spoke publicly about her massive theft. Before she got her turn in court, she had to listen to people testify about the damage she had done....
Officials in Dixon remain baffled by Crundwell’s scheme, which averaged more than $5 million a year during the last few years....
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Pederson said Crundwell ‘‘callously sat quietly at budget meetings year after year while the city had to make painful cuts.’’
Pedersen described Crundwell’s ‘‘extravagant lifestyle’’ and showed the judge pictures of expensive vehicles, boats and jewelry. He said she criss-crossed the nation attending horse shows and acting every bit the wealthy horse owner, while Dixon had to borrow $3 million to pay city bills....
Pedersen said after the hearing that Crundwell would have continued stealing if she hadn’t been caught.
‘‘There was no evidence she was going to stop,’’ he said....
The judge also ordered Crundwell to pay full restitution — $53.7 million — as per the terms of her deal, but prosecutors said they only expect to recover about $10 million of that. Over the past several months, U.S. Marshals have been auctioning off Crundwell’s assets, including houses, horses and jewelry.
Officials said that while money will continue to come in from the auctions, the total is not expected to climb. That’s because the government’s costs have climbed as well, with Jason Wojdylo of the U.S. Marshals Service saying it cost $1.7 million to care for hundreds of Crundwell’s horses.
After the hearing, Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said if other cases are any indication, the search for Crundwell’s assets will continue for years....
Prosecutors say Crundwell began depositing Dixon’s money in a secret bank account in January 1991 and continued doing so until her arrest in April 2012, months after the FBI began monitoring her transactions. Her scheme began to unravel when she went on an extended vacation in 2011 and the person filling in for her stumbled upon her secret account, prompting the mayor’s call to the FBI.
This is what the FBI should be doing, not setting up patsy plotters.
Crundwell began working for the city, which is about 100 miles west of Chicago, when she was 17 and began overseeing its finances in the 1980s....
Besides the luxury homes and vehicles she bought over the years, Crundwell spent millions on her horse-breeding operation, RC Quarter Horses LLC, which produced 52 world champions in exhibitions run by the American Quarter Horse Association.
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Not too big to jail.
