35 Facts About Rita Crundwell

Rita A Crundwell is the former comptroller and treasurer of Dixon, Illinois, from 1983 to 2012.

Rita Crundwell was fired and arrested in April 2012 after the discovery that she had embezzled $53.7 million from the city of Dixon for over 22 years to support her championship American Quarter Horse breeding operation, as well as a lavish lifestyle away from work.

Rita Crundwell's embezzlement has been described as the largest municipal fraud in US history.

Rita Crundwell used the money to turn her Quarter Horse breeding operation, RC Quarter Horses, into one of the best-known in the country.

Rita Crundwell's horses won 52 world championships and she was named the leading owner by the American Quarter Horse Association for eight consecutive years prior to her arrest.

Rita Crundwell's sentence was commuted along with nearly 1500 other people by President Biden on December 12,2024.

Rita Crundwell married engineering technician Jerry L Crundwell in 1974, while working as a secretary for Dixon's mayor, but divorced Crundwell in 1986.

In 1983, Rita Crundwell was appointed the treasurer and comptroller for Dixon, working in this capacity for almost three decades.

In 1990, Rita Crundwell opened a secret bank account named the Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account, making it appear to be a city account.

Rita Crundwell would have money deposited into another account called the Capital Development Fund, create false state invoices, and then write checks from the fund payable to "Treasurer", which she would deposit into the RSCDA account.

Rita Crundwell used the money not only to finance her Quarter Horse operation, but to support a lifestyle well beyond her $80,000 city salary, purchasing several cars, a second house and a $2.1 million 45-foot luxury motorhome.

Rita Crundwell covered up her embezzlement by claiming that the city's frequent budget shortfalls were due to the state being late in paying its share of tax revenue.

Rita Crundwell forced city departments to make drastic service cuts in order to keep the budget within reason.

However, by the onset of the Great Recession, some grew suspicious that Rita Crundwell was stealing money.

For most of her tenure as comptroller, Rita Crundwell had nearly complete control over the city's accounts, while few city employees had access to the city's financial statements.

Rita Crundwell arrived for work on April 17,2012, to find FBI agents waiting for her.

Rita Crundwell was arrested later that day and was indicted by a federal grand jury for embezzling $53 million in city money over the previous six years.

Rita Crundwell was charged with one count of wire fraud and released on $4,500 bail the next day.

On May 2,2012, a superseding indictment charged Rita Crundwell with embezzling $53 million over the prior 22 years.

On November 14,2012, Rita Crundwell pleaded guilty before Judge Philip Reinhard to a single count of wire fraud.

Rita Crundwell was required to forfeit more than $53.7 million in cash, assets and possessions, equivalent to the amount she stole, which is being used to make full restitution to the city.

Rita Crundwell reportedly told FBI agents that some of the money was spent on her horses and their upkeep.

Prosecutors later discovered that Rita Crundwell's crimes had begun as early as 1988, when she siphoned off $25,000 from the Dixon Sister City program over two years.

In September 2013, the auditors and Fifth Third agreed to pay the city $40 million in a legal settlement, while the auction of Rita Crundwell's assets brought in over $9 million.

The defense asked for thirteen years, saying that Rita Crundwell had cooperated with authorities in recovering the money.

Rita Crundwell appealed the sentence, but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld it in November 2013.

Rita Crundwell's embezzlement has been the subject of academic and professional publications.

On September 20,2012, Rita Crundwell was indicted on sixty state counts of theft, alleging that she stole $11.2 million from April 2010 until the day of her arrest.

Burke and Lee County State's Attorney Henry Dixon said the state charges, which carried a minimum of six years per count, were a backup in case Rita Crundwell was acquitted on the federal charges.

Rita Crundwell was incarcerated at minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca in Waseca, Minnesota.

Rita Crundwell's motion requested home confinement under the First Step Act.

Rita Crundwell cited, amongst other things, her "health issues, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol" and her good conduct while incarcerated.

Rita Crundwell was overseen by a residential reentry management field office in Chicago suburb Downers Grove.

On December 12,2024, Rita Crundwell's sentence was commuted by President Joe Biden along with nearly 1500 other individuals that were released under the CARES Act, which allowed people with a high risk of COVID-19 to be released into home detention.

Rita Crundwell's story was featured on the January 15,2025 edition of Freeform's Scam Goddess, hosted by Laci Mosley.