CliftonLarsonAllen Settles with Dixon for $36 Million Over Crundwell Fraud
In addition to CLA coughing up their share, Fifth Third Bank will pay $3 million, and the city's auditor Sam Card will pay $1 million for a nice round sum of $40 million total, according to Saukvalley.com. CLA provided us with a statement from CEO Gordon Viere: The allegations of fraud committed by City of Dixon Comptroller […]
Former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell Gets Nearly 20 Years
I truly hope this news means Colin never writes about her ever, ever again: Disgraced former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell was sentenced today to about 19 1/2 years in prison for what authorities have called the largest municipal fraud in the country’s history. U.S. District Judge Philip Reinhard ordered Crundwell taken into custody immediately to […]
According to This Dude Who May Have Helped Screw It Up, CliftonLarsonAllen Totally Screwed Up on the Dixon Audit
Meanwhile, back at the horse ranch: Sam Card says that CliftonLarsonAllen continued to do an audit for the city, despite guidelines that said they should not. In an October deposition statement, Card said that he and his mother’s small Sterling accounting office, which became Dixon’s contracted auditor after 2005, did not do its own audit […]
Rita Crundwell to Appear in Federal Court Tomorrow with a Long Face
With the ponies, RV, and Thunderbird all gone, the ex-Dixon, Illinois comptroller must have figured that the jig was up: Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell plans to plead guilty Wednesday to a federal fraud charge that alleges she siphoned more than $53 million from the small northwestern Illinois city’s coffers, according to the U.S. Attorney's […]
City of Dixon Sues Auditors Over…Ya Know
That money isn't going to find itself now, is it? An attorney for the city of Dixon filed a civil complaint this morning against the accounting firms that conducted the city's audit for the past 5 years. The complaint says that Samuel S. Card, CPA, P.C., and Janis Card Company, LLC, both located at 501 E. […]
Chicago-based Recruiting Firm Should Keep in Mind That the City of Dixon Would Jump at the Chance to Switch Places
Shaun Horan is no Rita Crundwell (allegedly!): A former Oak Brook accountant stole nearly $300,000 from his employer by writing checks to himself over a five-year span, prosecutors said Wednesday. Shaun Horan, 31, of the 1600 block of Blackwell Lane in Aurora, appeared in DuPage County bond court on a felony theft charge. Horan is accused of […]
Dixon, Illinois Finds Itself in a Bit of Pinch Since, Ya Know, $53 Million Went Missing
Accordingly, Dixon Mayor Jim Burke is putting the brakes on any investigation because "[it] would cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars" and the woman who had the magic credit card is in a bit of trouble. Hey, someone had to apply the tourniquet after the city bled out. [WAND]
Oh Look, the Dixon, Illinois Fraud Is Way Bigger Than Everyone Thought
How big? In the neighborhood of $53 million, according to the indictment. Earlier reports had put it closer to $30 million and change. It further alleges that Rita Crundwell stated the scheme in December of 1990 and was "[creating] fictitious invoices purported to be from the State of the Illinois to show the auditors for […]
Here’s an Ominous Statement a Former Dixon City Finance Commissioner Made About Accused Embezzler Rita Crundwell
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 […]
The Dixon, Illinois Fraud Is the Latest Example of Why Reasonable Assurance Is Bullshit
As you know, the former CFO of DIxon, Illinois, Rita Crundwell, has been accused of misappropriating $30,236,503 and 51¢ from Ronald Reagan's boyhood home. It's a haul of Sue Sachdeva proportions, although it appears that obsessive shopping wasn't so much the motive as it was a My Little Pony fascination for a grown woman. ANYWAY, […]
Dixon, Illinois City Commissioners Beat a Dead Horse After CFO’s Arrest
Last week we learned that the CFO/comptroller/treasurer for the city of Dixon, Illinois, Rita Crundwell, was arrested for allegedly stealing $30,236,503 and 51¢. She also stands accused, in the court of public opinion, of having awful taste in automobiles, as federal agents seized a Ford Thunderbird upon her arrest. Regardless, these allegations came as a surprise […]
Somehow the City of Dixon, Illinois Just Noticed That $30 Million Was Missing
Rita Crundwell has been the CFO/comptroller of Dixon, Illinois since the 1980s; a typical tenure for even an unelected Illinois official. In those 30-ish years, it appears that she performed her duties adequately enough, but she was just put on unpaid leave. You see, at some point in 2006, it is alleged that Ms. Crundwell […]