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Rita Crundwell
Rita A. Crundwell (née Humphrey; born January 10, 1953) is an American woman who served as the comptroller and treasurer of Dixon, Illinois from 1983 to 2012. She 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. Her embezzlement has been described as the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Crundwell pleaded guilty to her crimes and was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison.
Crundwell used the money to turn her Quarter Horse breeding operation, RC Quarter Horses, into one of the best-known in the country. Her 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. She spent 8+1⁄2 years (43% of her sentence) in prison before being released in mid-2021 to serve the remainder of her sentence in home confinement. Her sentence was commuted along with nearly 1500 other people by President Biden on December 12, 2024. Those commuted were people who had been previously transferred from prison to house arrest under the CARES Act due to having a high risk of COVID-19.
Born Rita Humphrey, the daughter of Ray and Caroline Humphrey, Crundwell grew up on her family's farm near Dixon, and was a student at Dixon High School. In 1970, a year before graduating, the teenager began working at the Dixon City Hall as a work-study student. She began showing American Quarter Horses in 1978.
She married engineering technician Jerry L. Crundwell in 1974, while working as a secretary for Dixon's mayor, but divorced Crundwell in 1986.
In 1983, Crundwell was appointed the treasurer and comptroller for Dixon, working in this capacity for almost three decades. Crundwell acquired a sterling reputation; in 2011, one of the city commissioners praised her stewardship of city finances, saying that "she looks after every tax dollar as if it were her own."
In 1990, Crundwell opened a secret bank account named the Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account (RSCDA), making it appear to be a city account. She was the only signatory. 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. According to federal investigators, this relatively uncomplicated scheme continued for 22 years.
On average, Crundwell stole nearly $2.5 million per year from the city, starting from a low of $181,000 in 1991, growing to the embezzlement of $5.8 million in 2008 – from a city with an annual budget of $8–9 million. Crundwell used the money not only to finance her Quarter Horse operation, but also 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.
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. She forced city departments to make drastic service cuts in order to keep the budget within reason. As a result, employees went two years or more without raises and the police department could not afford new radios. The most visible effect, however, was on street maintenance; the city was forced to lay off three of its nine street repair workers and cut the rate of maintenance. In the decade prior to Crundwell's arrest, only 65 blocks of road were repaired or replaced.
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Rita Crundwell
Rita A. Crundwell (née Humphrey; born January 10, 1953) is an American woman who served as the comptroller and treasurer of Dixon, Illinois from 1983 to 2012. She 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. Her embezzlement has been described as the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Crundwell pleaded guilty to her crimes and was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison.
Crundwell used the money to turn her Quarter Horse breeding operation, RC Quarter Horses, into one of the best-known in the country. Her 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. She spent 8+1⁄2 years (43% of her sentence) in prison before being released in mid-2021 to serve the remainder of her sentence in home confinement. Her sentence was commuted along with nearly 1500 other people by President Biden on December 12, 2024. Those commuted were people who had been previously transferred from prison to house arrest under the CARES Act due to having a high risk of COVID-19.
Born Rita Humphrey, the daughter of Ray and Caroline Humphrey, Crundwell grew up on her family's farm near Dixon, and was a student at Dixon High School. In 1970, a year before graduating, the teenager began working at the Dixon City Hall as a work-study student. She began showing American Quarter Horses in 1978.
She married engineering technician Jerry L. Crundwell in 1974, while working as a secretary for Dixon's mayor, but divorced Crundwell in 1986.
In 1983, Crundwell was appointed the treasurer and comptroller for Dixon, working in this capacity for almost three decades. Crundwell acquired a sterling reputation; in 2011, one of the city commissioners praised her stewardship of city finances, saying that "she looks after every tax dollar as if it were her own."
In 1990, Crundwell opened a secret bank account named the Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account (RSCDA), making it appear to be a city account. She was the only signatory. 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. According to federal investigators, this relatively uncomplicated scheme continued for 22 years.
On average, Crundwell stole nearly $2.5 million per year from the city, starting from a low of $181,000 in 1991, growing to the embezzlement of $5.8 million in 2008 – from a city with an annual budget of $8–9 million. Crundwell used the money not only to finance her Quarter Horse operation, but also 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.
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. She forced city departments to make drastic service cuts in order to keep the budget within reason. As a result, employees went two years or more without raises and the police department could not afford new radios. The most visible effect, however, was on street maintenance; the city was forced to lay off three of its nine street repair workers and cut the rate of maintenance. In the decade prior to Crundwell's arrest, only 65 blocks of road were repaired or replaced.