Marathon Pundit: Dixon horse lady took advantage of late state payments for her alleged $53 million theft

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Dixon horse lady took advantage of late state payments for her alleged $53 million theft

Marathon Pundit outside of Dixon

Chicago Magazine takes a thorough look at Rita Crundwell, the disgraced former comptroller of Dixon, Illinois. The champion horse-breeder is accused of using other people's money--$53 million of taxpayer funds--to finance her lavish lifestyle.

The entire article is worth reading. But this short paragraph jumped out at me. Is it possible that only in Illinois could such a scheme go on for so long?

What's more, Crundwell knew that the State of Illinois was often late—sometimes by as much as a year—in making certain payments to its municipalities. So Crundwell would tell the mayor and the City Council that the state was late in sending payments "when in fact," the federal indictment alleges, "she had fraudulently transferred those funds to the RSCDA [secret Crundwell] account for her own use."