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 ...
So whats the word on F1’s track in Austin? I saw a pic of it last week and it looks like they just started building the week before.
I know about the airport. I was talking about MOPAC and Ann Richards.
Politicians from both parties have been pulling that crap since forever. They find out the government is going to build a lake so they go into a “partnership” with some money people and buy up the land. They then get to sell the “lake” land to the government PLUS they get the lakefront properties. Talk about insider trading. It goes on at all levels of government.
I didn't realize just how small a town it is.
From Wikipedia:
The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census.How could somebody in a town that small not have noticed that things weren't quite right money-wise? $53 million, even over 30 years, is a lot of money for that a small town's budget. (I'm thinking that a lot of people were looking the other way for a long time.)
There was an odd case that occurred in the 80’s when they were planning to expand Texas 71 W/US 290 W into 4-lane limited access out to Sunset Valley and Oak Hill, just short of the 71/290 split southwest of town.
A nice snazzy office building went up along the route, about 8 stories tall.
It was never occupied. Got torn down because it was partly on the right-of-way of the planned highway widening, which began a year or so after the demolition.
Most likely just a planning snafu, but just possibly some kind of scam at the government’s—our—expense. What a waste, in any case.
Man that's getting stratospheric, into John Semmens territory if ya ask me.
Haven’t a clue as to what is going on in Austin. Perhaps someone else from that area can give you update. I am south of Houston and try to stay as far away from Austin as I can.
I agree. John should be able to work some wizardry on that for sure. While it makes me suspect the guy had no clue as to what was going on, it's gonna come back to haunt him big time. At least in Dixon it will.
Judging from the article I posted in post #17, there was about 3 levels of separation between accounts. Not all that great, really, in the scheme of things. Especially when books are being audited...
Also, from statements by those auditors (2 firms according to the story), they’re either playing dumb or not responding.
And the city council is to blame as well. Wasn’t anyone at that level concerned over her apparent prosperous lifestyle?
As I mentioned in post #16, I live about 35 miles East, in another small town - smaller than Dixon, actually. I would hope our officials are taking heed. I’ll have to quiz the mayor when I see him.
Bum p
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