The comptroller in the northern Illinois town of Dixon was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stealing $30 million in city funds over a six-year period.
The Dixon Telegraph reported that Rita A. Crundwell was charged with wire fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, she used the money to support her “lavish lifestyle, including operating a horse farm.”
The complaint alleges that she used fraudulently obtained funds to make additional purchases, including a 2009 Liberty Coach Motor Home for $2,108,000, a 2009 Kenworth T800 Tractor Truck for $146,787, a 2009 Freightliner Truck for $140,000, a 2009 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck for $56,646, and a 2009 Featherlite Horse Trailer for $258,698. Between January of 2007 and March of 2012, Crundwell incurred charges of more than $2.5 million on her personal American Express credit card account, including more than $339,000 on jewelry alone, and allegedly used Dixon funds to pay the entire amount of charges, according to a press release from the office.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the city of 15,000 has an annual budget between $8 million and $9 million.
It is not uncommon for a public official to be charged with stealing money, but it usually isn’t anywhere near this amount. It makes you wonder how no one noticed it earlier.
