The horse is on the left.
Posted on 05/02/2012 5:55:17 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
A former finance official stole more than $53 million in city funds from former President Ronald Reagan's boyhood hometown in Illinois in a fraud that spanned more than two decades, US prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Rita Crundwell, 59, who had served as comptroller of Dixon, Illinois since 1983, used the money to buy three homes, more than a dozen cars, trucks and other vehicles, and to invest in a horse farm that has 311 quarter horses, the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago said.
Crundwell was arrested in mid-April and charged with stealing $30 million from the city between 2006 and 2012. Prosecutors said she funnelled the money into a secret account she controlled.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said further investigation found that the alleged fraud began in 1990 and involved more than $53 million in funds from the city of about 15,000 people, located about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
311 Quarter horses is a lot of money on the hoof.
Hmmmm....wonder what party she was elected under...
Whatever happened to the concept of “checks & balance?”
Sell her horses, all her assets, make RESTITUTION...then lock her up.
There was once a Sec of the Treasury from Texas who moved all the state’s accounts to a new bank. Later that banked loaned the Sec and some friends money to buy some land in South Austin. That land was later sold to the state for a new expressway. Isn’t that special?
oh, who cares- it was former President Ronald Reagan's boyhood hometown, dontcha know.
Does anyone else notice that many of these “insider” crimes, especially at the Municipal level are done by middle-aged women.
There must be more to menopause than crankiness. ;)
Does anyone else notice that many of these “insider” crimes, especially at the Municipal level are done by middle-aged women.
There must be more to menopause than crankiness. ;)
When a government official of a small town can get her hands on tens of millions of dollars, and in years it is only discovered by accident, clearly government is too big and powerful.
if this happened in Dixon, it is likely 1/10000000 of what goes on in Chicago and Cook County every day.
When a government official of a small town can get her hands on tens of millions of dollars, and in years it is only discovered by accident, clearly government is too big and powerful. -BuckwheatPonder, if you dare, the comparative scale of theft within our current admin.
The favored site was in the sleepy burg of Manor, quite some distance from the center of town.
Various officials and their sycophants loaded up on private real estate around the proposed site before it was announced. (What better might one expect from an incorrigible city administration?)
Well, the Air Force came to the rescue, in a way. Despite the efforts of long-time Congressman J. J. ("Jake") Pickle, the base closing commission put Bergstrom AFB on the list. (I always call it Burpelson AFB, being convinced that it was the prototype for the base in Dr. Strangelove.)
The Burpelson site was leased from the City for $1 upon the establishment of the base in 1941. The lease stipulated that the site and all of its improvements would revert to the City if ever decommissioned as an AFB.
So the City finally then gave up on the Manor site, dispossessing all the crooks who tried to make a killing on it. They then spent a carload of money converting the AFB into a pretty nice airport: Austin Burpelson--oops, I mean Bergstrom--International Airport.
Once again, proof that government is the least efficient part of any society. We need as little of it as possible.
Also note, this if from a British paper. Any reports on any American sources?
It sounds like she made a “mistake”.
The horse is on the left.
Dixon is about 35 miles west of me. We’ve discussed this, and can’t see how she could get away with this, especially on such a grand scale. One account I read earlier claimed she had a motor home worth around $2.5 million. One “ranch” was in Wisconsin, another in Illinois. Earlier accounts also had the total figure around $30 mil. Doesn’t anyone monitor the books?
I love this comment: As both treasurer and comptroller, Crundwell held almost complete control over the city's bank accounts.
"That's Accounting 101, segregation of duties," Pope said. "The person that writes the checks isn't the person who deposits the checks."
But this one is the best: Crundwell reported to the city's finance commissioner, a member of the City Council, but the mayor declined to comment on whether that current commissioner, David Blackburn, or former Commissioner Roy Bridgeman should have detected the alleged thefts. As Bridgeman left office last year, he praised Crundwell for being an asset to the city and said she "looks after every tax dollar as if it were her own," according to meeting minutes.
Boy, she sure did. DUH!!
That land was later sold to the state for a new expressway. Isn’t that special?”
Isn’t that the land whose majority owner(s) was from Spain? It may well well have been the Trans Texas highway deal. I know that project was supposed to have been scuttled but there are eight new lanes of concrete beginning south of Houston and headed right down 59 for the border. Or was that deal in your post for something else? So many questionable things going down during the past several years that it’s hard to keep them all separate.
And the horse’s ass is on the right.
Bump
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