Rita Crundwell--the saga continues...

[Cherry]

Even though Ms. Crundwell is serving a nearly 20 year sentence for embezzlement she is still receiving $13,000-$14,000 a year in breeder royalties from American Paint Horses she bred! :eek:

The government has frozen these assets, but it still doesn’t have access to the monies (oops)… Feds are working on getting that money back to the city of Dixon.

The APHA’s executive director, Billy Smith, expects Crundwell horses will continue to generate money for years…

What a mess! If there would have been some simple measures implemented in the office she wouldn’t have been able to skim off so much money (almost 53 million dollars). No one questioned how she was able to afford to buy two farms right in Dixon that totaled 325 acres, or 400 horses on her salary?

[JanM]

Everyone thought she was making a ton of money on the horses. They obviously didn’t have a clue about how few people ever make a dime on horses.

[Coanteen]

Isn’t that a good thing? Once the government can access those royalties, the city can get that money from her, right?

[downen]

I live in the area, and from what I understand, the city did quite well in recouping the money that beyotch stole from them. The sale of the horses and contraband she’d collected brought about $8 mil, and then the lawsuit against the accounting firm that was supposed to be auditing brought another $35 mil. I’m certain they will get the royalty money as well, in time. As far as her pension is concerned, I think they are still fighting that one out in court, but it sounds like until the monies stolen are repaid, her pension fund will be attached. Kharma’s a bitch, and lawyers help, too.

[Cherry]

Downen, the city of Dixon settled for 40 million with the auditors but I can’t believe how lackadaisical the city’s oversite was (and I only have a smattering of knowledge about accounting practices…).

Surely even the horse people around Dixon had to know she couldn’t have been able to afford those properties and all those horses on her city job income… A lot of people asleep at the wheel in Dixon–they’re just as culpable as Rita. It was just a fluke that she was caught, who knows how long it could have continued!

Coanteen, I hope the city does get that breeder’s money! And I hope the city learned their lesson… I’m wondering if the 40M counts against what Rita owes–I’m hoping not and that she has to repay in total the amount she embezzled.

[roseymare]

Everyone had a story for where her money came from. I heard she had a rich aunt who had invested well in the dot com stocks.
I think those are totals for just two years of incentive fund in both the AQHA and APHA. She also would have NSBA money and possibly Kentucky bred incentive fund money.

[roseymare]

OK it appers that the checks are sent to the US Marshals and the money has been frozen. She is not getting it. And the NSBA is around $1000.
Nothing about the Kentucky money. Maybe she never had any mares foal out in KY. But I would think she would have because everyone sent mares there when they started their program for stock horses. The program never really panned out but people jumped on it the first year.

[clanter]

I would think the insurance carriers would be first in line as the Feds took their costs off the top of the recovery, the remainder went to the city and then the city went after the carriers for the shortfall

[trubandloki]

I think it is pretty easy for a scammer to scam. Rita Crundwell had a system and it worked. I do not blame the victim (the city) for not noticing it sooner.

[TimeBandit]

Don’t over look the fact that she had worked there in the offices since she was 18. She was a very trusted and liked employee.
Dixon is a small town where people know each other and take people at their word.
At least they did.
I met Rita at a horse sale many years ago, and found her to be a real likable lady.

[Beckham03]

[QUOTE=roseymare;8216713]
OK it appers that the checks are sent to the US Marshals and the money has been frozen. She is not getting it. And the NSBA is around $1000.
Nothing about the Kentucky money. Maybe she never had any mares foal out in KY. But I would think she would have because everyone sent mares there when they started their program for stock horses. The program never really pannedG out but people jumped on it the first year.[/QUOTE]

The Dateline episode I watched said something about a rich deceased relative as to where she told people the money came from.

[roseymare]

EVeryone had a story and honestly no one cared. The horse show world is full of wealthy folks. What always got me was how enamered it seemed almost everyone was with her. I just ignored it for the most part.

[Scaramouch]

How large is Dixon’s budget anyway? $5 million a year in my similarly-sized town would be 20-25% of the general fund. :no: Not an insignificant piece at all.

[Cherry]

Rosey, rich people always seem to have other, less affluent people fawning over them–I’ve known several monied people with horses that have a following. I could never figure out how this one couple (with children) were able to buy a huge farm and all those show horses. Turns out they were dealing drugs–big time!

Trub & Time Bandit, my parents owned their own business. When I was old enough to make change at the register the first thing they taught me is “when you are behind the counter you have no friends” (in other words, if you give the goods away to buddies soon you will have no goods to sell, and you will go bankrupt.)

The second thing I heard was all the horror stories about the employees my parents had had in the past who tried to rob them blind. When there’s money involved even good people can succumb to temptation, especially when one has no vested interest in the health of the business.

This embezzelment didn’t take place in a vaccum! I’m sure the city of Dixon had a comptroller whose job it was to know what was happening with the city’s money. There are certain procedures one follows when dealing with monies and the city broke every one of them! No one should have sole control of the “books” or the office, that way it is impossible for this kind of thing to happen… The mayor and the powers that be are absolutely responsible for what went on…

[roseymare]

She was the comptroller.

[roseymare]

I do agree there should have been oversight. Although I have heard that she loaned townsfolk money as well.

[Kwill]

The best con people are the nicest folks in the world … that’s how they get away with it. You want to be their friend. It doesn’t surprise me at all she was well liked.

[roseymare]

But she really wasn’t that type. She was nice but didn’t have one of those magnetic personalities. She threw money around for shindigs and donations and stuff but she liked to keep to her horses and such.

[Kwill]

I can’t imagine going about your day to day job, acting like everything was above board and you were an honest, responsible person, and yet knowing you were stealing millions of dollars and spending it.

I do wonder what goes through these people’s heads. Started, and then couldn’t stop? Any guilt at all? Worry about being caught? She was telling lies and spreading rumors (rich aunt, horses were profitable, etc.) about where the money was coming from, that had to be a chore to keep it all straight, plus the machinations she must have gone through to hide all the transactions.

You also wonder when she realized how it could be done, and took that first $100 or $1000 dollars that fell in her lap.

[midstride]

[QUOTE=Kwill;8217428]
I can’t imagine going about your day to day job, acting like everything was above board and you were an honest, responsible person, and yet knowing you were stealing millions of dollars and spending it.

I do wonder what goes through these people’s heads. Started, and then couldn’t stop? Any guilt at all? Worry about being caught? She was telling lies and spreading rumors (rich aunt, horses were profitable, etc.) about where the money was coming from, that had to be a chore to keep it all straight, plus the machinations she must have gone through to hide all the transactions.

You also wonder when she realized how it could be done, and took that first $100 or $1000 dollars that fell in her lap.[/QUOTE]

It is said to take 3 things to make fraud feasible: Opportunity, Pressure, and Rationalization. Opportunity can be avoided with with proper controls, which obviously there weren’t. But pressure (say medical bills, a desire to have a different life, need, etc) and Rationalization (telling yourself it is okay, or why you need it and the company or other people don’t) are more difficult. People can rationalize a lot to themselves for what they want.