- A major national news story
is emerging
from the small town
of Dixon, Illinois.
Former Dixon comptroller
Rita Crundwell admits
she stole
more than $50 million.
- Dixon is where
one of the biggest scams
happened to one of
the tiniest towns.
- It was an epic heist
that defies belief.
[cow moos]
- By day, she was
a small-town bookkeeper.
But the folks in Dixon
wondered how
her $80,000 salary
paid for 400 thoroughbreds...
[horses neighing]
Luxurious stables,
a $2 million motor home,
and a life as
the undisputed grande dame
of the competitive
horse world.
Saddle up and learn how
this city accountant
galloped into
the con hall of fame.
I'm Laci Mosley.
I'm an actor, comedian,
and host of a podcast
all about the world
of fraud and deceit.
I've researched
thousands of scams.
This is my expertise
and my passion,
so I'm going on
a journey across America
to dive into small-town
swindles and big-city cons.
They call me Scam Goddess.
Welcome to my world.
Scammers usually target
a handful of people,
but imagine deceiving
an entire town.
Well, welcome
to Dixon, Illinois,
population 16,000,
home to the Petunia Festival
and the catfish capital
of Illinois.
You'd never guess
this picturesque place
was the center
of a huge scandal.
It really has a certain charm
steeped in its rich roots.
- My ancestors were
the first permanent settlers
here in 1830.
- His family was the
original neighborhood watch.
- The people are
friendly and wonderful.
It's classic
Midwestern America.
- We love Dixon.
- It's so classy.
- It's classy.
- Folks are salt of the earth.
- I had teachers
when I was in high school
that my parents had.
- It's a vibe.
It's a Dixon vibe.
- Its biggest claim to fame?
It's Ronald Reagan's hometown.
- Everybody has a place
to go back to,
and for me, it's Dixon.
- Yeah, that Ronald Reagan.
- There's a lot of Reagan stuff
going on here.
- You know, the Ronald Reagan
home is up the road.
- There's the Reagan Trail.
- Big fan of
President Reagan, yeah.
- We like Reagan around here.
- But I'm not here for Reagan.
Trixie, come on now, girl.
Stop playing.
I'm here for
a different Dixonite--
Rita Crundwell.
I have to say, I'm fascinated.
She was captivating.
She was accomplished.
- Browsing through
horse magazines,
it's hard to miss
articles featuring
Rita Crundwell and all her
equestrian accomplishments.
- She was also one of
the most notorious scammers
I've ever come across,
so I'm here to uncover
who this woman was that
managed to scam a whole town
out of $53 million.
How did such a lovely
community fall victim to her?
And how did she stay under
the radar for two decades?
All right, girl.
Enjoy the grass.
[car lock beeps]
I'm outside of Val's bar.
It's been open for decades,
a pillar in
the drinking community.
I know a lot about scammers,
but $53 million?
Oh, Rita, girl.
That gets you etched
into scam Rushmore.
I have a lot of questions,
so I'm going to channel
my inner Rita
and learn more about her
from the people
that knew her best--
her neighbors.
OK, Dixon,
I like the energy here.
Your name is Val, right?
- Right there.
I'm Wade.
- Oh, OK.
- [laughs]
- Val, you own this place?
- Yes.
- Well, I'm trying to
meet some people in Dixon.
- We've got all of our
beautiful people here.
- Norman.
- Norm!
- Hey, Norm.
- Norman!
- Norman!
- Norman!
- Norman! Norman!
Oh, my God, Norman!
[clapping]
Norman, Norman!
[laughter]
What's-- what's up, king?
- Guys!
- Oh, my-- this is "Cheers"!
Everybody-- OK!
- We're really like
that around here.
- Damn, everybody really does
know your name around here.
But who remembers
a certain embezzler?
Hi.
- I grew up here.
- You were born
and raised here?
- Grew up here.
- Like, what is
this town's deal?
- It's famous for
Ronald Reagan.
- Very popular actor.
- A good, good president.
- Yes.
Do you know Rita Crundwell?
[record scratches,
glass shatters]
- Not personally.
- Oh, God,
it got tense in here.
Are y'all-- are we good?
- It's just, um,
heartbreaking and shocking.
- Ooh, noted.
Rita is a sensitive subject
in these parts.
But when you consider
she took $53.7 million
from this community,
it makes sense.
So who was this woman?
[pensive music]
- Rita Crundwell
look like a criminal?
No way.
She was a wonderful young lady.
She was very pretty.
She was perfect
for stealing money.
[upbeat music]
- This is a photo of Rita
on the homecoming court.
She's also here.
This was the homecoming game
of 1970, our senior year.
This is her senior photo.
You notice she's wearing
these octagonal glasses,
which were all the rage
in--in 1971.
- She had a very
pleasant personality.
Her family were farmers.
[twangy music]
♪
- She grew up in rural Dixon.
And like so many
of my friends,
she was involved
with 4-H activities,
as a lot of farm girls and
farm boys were at that time.
[laughter]
- Rita never looked
really glamorous to me.
She didn't have a lot
of makeup on, and--
a farm woman, I guess.
Often had a cowboy hat on
and her hair pulled back,
jeans and the belt buckle--
she was a cowgirl.
♪
- How long have you
been living in Dixon?
- My whole life.
- There was a pretty, like,
infamous woman from here--
- Mm-hmm.
- --who stole a lot of
money from the town?
- Right.
The theft occurred over
the course of several decades.
I mean, this dates back to the
time when she was a teenager,
you know?
Like, 50 years.
[soft dramatic music]
- Rita,
as a high school student,
worked part-time
for the city
under our work study program
in the school.
- Our senior year,
she's in
the Office Occupations Club,
where she was the president
of the whole club.
But as part of that club,
you would work sometimes
for pay in the afternoons,
and that's what Rita did
for City Hall.
- That's right.
This was somewhat
of a long con.
Rita Crundwell started
as an intern in her teens.
She certainly knew how
to hold on to her horses.
- Her job was to work with
the city finance department.
[cash register dinging]
She would be their runner
while she was in high school.
They'd say,
Rita, here, take this,
and off she'd run
and come back.
But at the same time, she'd
handle some of the books,
so she was learning that skill.
- Most teens were learning
how to cook burgers
over the summer,
while Rita might have
been learning how
to cook the books.
[cash machine whirs]
- After she got out
of high school,
she got a full-time job there,
and the rest is history.
[bills rustling]
- Who lives in a city
with this crime
and not know anything about it?
- And how many-- how many
horses did she have, though?
- Oh, my gosh--
- 400, I think.
- 400.
- Yeah, I'm surprised y'all
didn't notice 400 horses.
Shockingly,
at the time of her arrest,
she had over 400 horses.
Aside from a budding career
in City Hall,
clearly,
Rita had a new obsession.
- In high school
and beyond high school,
she was involved
with showing cattle,
but mostly showing horses.
Her involvement
in the horse business
just essentially took off.
People admired how
she had done well
in the horse industry.
- Rita received a lot
of local publicity
for her work with
the quarter horses
and all of her shows and so on.
Every now and then,
there'd be a story
about Rita in the newspaper.
She sold a quarter horse
for $150,000.
Must be a wonderful business.
[country music]
- Last year, we showed him in
the masters at the Congress
and he won there,
and then he won the open
and the amateur here
in the weanling class.
And, um,
I showed him and won here.
So he's out of sheet scores.
Makes me cry because she's
one of my favorite mares.
He's such a good horse.
- Can you spot
a million-dollar horse?
- No.
- And I think that's how it
kind of went under the radar.
Now, when you see
a beautiful horse,
do you think,
there's a million-dollar horse?
- Exactly.
So a full-time Dixon employee
making $80,000 a year had
a seriously spendy side hustle
in the horse world?
How does that even add up?
It raises so many
more questions for me.
Bye, everyone!
all: Bye!
- Bye!
Bye, Edith!
Bye, Carrie!
Bye, Eli!
Bye, Norman!
[cheering]
This is a doozy, because
I don't know how to feel.
On one hand, icon.
On the other hand...
villain.
[cow moos]
- Before it all came
crashing down,
Rita was somehow
balancing her job
at Dixon City Hall
while also being
famously celebrated as the
queen of the quarter horses.
But what is it about these
Ubers of the animal kingdom
that stole her heart?
To find out, I need
to talk to an expert
and get the story straight
from the horse's mouth.
[horse whinnies]
- Hi.
- Hello.
It is so nice to meet you.
I'm Shayna Rigsby.
- Yes.
Shayna, lovely to meet you too.
- I hear you're here
to learn about horses.
- I am very much here
to learn about horses.
- Wonderful.
So this is Ms. Piper.
Piper would be what's called
a halter horse,
since she has such nice
muscle conformation.
- Piper, you have
beautiful hair.
Girl, what shampoo you use?
- [laughs]
So your quarter horses were
able to run a quarter mile
faster than a thoroughbred.
That's how they earned
the name quarter horses.
- I want to ask you
about Rita specifically.
- OK.
- So had you heard of her
in the quarter horse world?
- I actually had.
Um, my family used to show
with her a little bit.
- Really?
- Yes.
Rita had so much value
in her horses.
So when Rita showed,
she was actually winning
championship titles.
- She's wonderful.
[laughs]
And she's just
so much fun to show.
She's just a lady.
- When Rita showed up
with her big, fancy rig,
she could ask whoever
she wanted to move,
and you couldn't say no.
She did not like to have
another horse beat her.
She would purchase
the horse that beat her
if she lost in a class.
- So is that like
a pageant for horses?
- That is exactly
a beauty pageant for horses.
It is, how pretty is your body?
How nice is your hair looking?
- That's what makes horses
hotter than other horses?
- Pretty much, yeah, so...
- OK.
- The more competitive
a horse can be,
the more pricier
they're going to be too.
- How much does
a horse start out for?
- I would say a really nice
expensive quarter horse
would be around $100,000.
- OK!
- Yes.
Depends on how much--
- And I can't live in my horse.
That's a house.
- [laughs]
Yeah.
But if you are OK
with an ugly horse--
[horse neighs]
--it's going to be
a little bit cheaper.
- A horse with
a good personality?
- [laughs]
Yeah.
- So say if I wanted
402 championship horses,
how much would that run me?
- Uh, so much more.
- Let's do some Laci math.
In 2009, Rita bought
a horse for $225,000.
Multiply that by 402 horses,
and hypothetically,
the cost would be
astronomical.
Yearly upkeep for so many
horses isn't cheap either.
But with top prizes
within the horse world
only reaching $20,000,
the math just doesn't add up.
So there's not money
in winning here.
It's more the love, right?
- Yeah, the love and
selling your horses
if you're done with them--
the constant in and out,
that's what's going
to make you money.
They say if you want to become
a millionaire in horses,
you have to start
as a billionaire.
- But Rita wasn't
a billionaire.
With an $80,000
town hall salary,
where did the town think she
was getting all that dough?
- Everybody just assumed
that she had done well
in the horse industry.
- We had heard that
she had invested
in some of the tech stocks.
- I guess when you're wealthy,
maybe people don't always ask.
- With no questions asked
and what seemed like
a bottomless wallet,
Rita had free rein.
- Behind these gates, a
kingdom created by corruption.
- Everything is
top of the line.
- She was living
the life of a rock star.
She had a nice home.
She had a huge farm.
- Almost everything in
this house is custom-made,
including a chandelier
crafted from old revolvers,
personalized tables,
and a floor inlaid
with her initials.
- RVs, horse trailers,
bespoke furniture,
and a vacation home
in Florida.
- We were just stunned to learn
that she had more properties
than we were aware of.
- While the city of Dixon
was closing its pools
because they couldn't
afford to operate them,
the defendant built a pool
complete with a sauna.
- In 2009, she splurged
on a motor home
worth a whopping $2.1 million.
- $2.1 million RV.
I have no idea how you could
even buy a $2 million RV.
What could be in this thing?
- She was living
the good life.
She was like a queen of Dixon.
- With her
extravagant spending,
Rita was living the high life
on borrowed time.
Oh, oh.
Stop, stop.
Don't hit my cameraman, now.
I have to admire Rita
because she had 400 horses.
This way.
Girl, outside is this way.
Come on now.
Oh.
I would not spend
any money on this.
But rich Rita sure did.
I need to find out
how she was able to scam
an entire town
for over 20 years
and who allowed this
to happen.
- I'm headed to City Hall
to meet with Danny Langloss,
Dixon's current city manager,
who worked with Rita
in her final years there.
- Hello there.
- Hi, I'm Laci.
- Hi, Laci.
My name is Sharri.
- Sharri. OK.
Like berry.
- Yes. Yes, absolutely.
- I'm here to see Danny.
- Absolutely.
If you give me just a moment,
I'll take you right up to him.
- Wow.
Much easier than I expected.
- We're going to head right
on up to the second floor.
- Oh, OK.
Ooh, they got one
of those little
portraits through the years
things.
This has to be the same man.
And of course...
Oh, my God,
I've always wanted to do this.
[dramatic music]
[gavel clacks]
It really does sound
like d*ck Wolf.
[chung chung]
Oh, hey!
Hey.
I'm Laci.
- I'm Danny.
- Awkward.
It's so nice to meet you.
Oh, my, we match.
See, I could work here.
- You're hired.
[chimes ring]
- I did want to talk to you
about someone
who did scam a lot of people
in this town--
Rita Crundwell.
- Yeah, I had the unfortunate
pleasure of working with Rita.
- Ooh.
- As did many of us.
- How did Rita get away with
what she did for so long?
- Yeah, that's a good question,
but it all roots in the fact
that she is
a master manipulator.
She always made the people
with her feel like
the most important people
in the room.
If you think about it,
right, like,
so many of these people
worked with her
since she was 16 or 17
and she was an intern,
and turned a lot of heads
with her work ethic,
her personality,
the way she was able
to connect with people.
- She continued
working for the city.
She was the city clerk
for some time,
and then she became
the treasurer.
[sirens wailing]
- Rita handled almost
everything here.
So if you were a city
employee, you dealt with Rita.
If you had a question,
Rita was the one to go to.
She was very smart,
very articulate.
By and large, well-respected.
- She knew how to make people
feel special, feel important.
And those are all factors
in building rapport
and building trust.
- Yeah.
- And she knew her job
inside and out.
♪
- Just before I became mayor,
the comptroller retired,
and they gave Rita
the title as comptroller
without taking away
her title and authority
of the treasurer.
She had total control then
over all the finances.
- Letting the
foxy horse breeder
guard the hen house
was a problem for Dixon.
As treasurer,
Rita managed the town's money,
including revenue collection
and bill payments.
Adding comptroller,
essentially the city's
chief financial officer,
made her the sole keeper
of all the town's
financial records.
- It set us up
for serious damage.
- How was she
getting the money?
Because I would assume Rita
can't just go to the bank
and say, hey,
I'm with the government.
Run me $500,000.
I got to get a new horse.
- It's crazy because
it's really simple,
which is why she got along
with it for so long.
Rita was allowed to
open a bank account
with one signature
in just her name,
with her as the treasurer.
So she developed a scheme.
As she watched the road
projects being done
around town, she would
create fictitious invoices
and be writing large sums
of money for these projects
that we had
no responsibility for.
And instead of writing it
to the State of Illinois
treasurer,
she wrote it to treasurer,
and she was the treasurer.
And now this bank allows you to
take several hundred thousand
dollar payments and
put it in this account
that only your name is on,
that nobody knows exists.
And then you can take that and
move it to your own account,
and that's exactly
what she did.
- Wow.
She was working hard.
Rita's scheme began in 1990
when she opened her
secret bank account.
In 1991,
she made her first move,
siphoning off $181,000.
By September 2009, she was
moving large sums of money--
$225,000 here, $350,000 there,
all to her personal account.
Over the course
of two decades,
Rita ex*cuted 169 transfers,
averaging
$2.5 million per year.
Her embezzlement spree
continued unchecked until 2012
with her thefts
totaling a staggering
28% of Dixon's budget
in the final six years.
I mean, how do people
miss $54 million?
- It's crazy.
So this is the problem.
She trained everybody
on finance,
municipal finance,
how things work.
She put the sheets together,
and she showed them,
and she explained them.
- Oh, she put the sheets
together and sh*t the bed.
- Government finance
is complicated.
It is.
She got all these
different revenue sources
and where they come from.
You got your infrastructure
and your motor fuel tax
and the Illinois funds and
how they go into this account.
Well, who's the one teaching
the department heads?
[power whirs down]
She's the only one that knows
these level of revenues.
- Went through
union negotiations.
We had asked for city budget,
which I got from Rita,
and I was trying to make heads
or tails of this information
that I had received, and I--
I could not figure it out.
[dramatic music]
- It's not some highfalutin
person from out of town
with all these fancy degrees
and being real flashy.
No, just a hometown person.
How can you not trust
this local farm girl?
- If you had a question,
she would have the answer.
Rita is a great treasurer.
She handles the money
as if it were her own.
[laughs]
Well, she did.
[tense music]
- I wonder what
the guilt was like,
hiding a secret that big
for that long.
- To the normal person,
that kind of a weight
would just be a mountain.
But to somebody like her,
who I've just come to--
is a sociopath, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- Like, how do you
look people in the eye
that you care about
and do this to them?
The community public works
was significantly neglected.
We had people driving around
in pick-up trucks
with holes in the floor.
The projects that weren't
able to be completed
because we didn't have
that money.
- It's a little more devastating
than I thought at first.
When I came out here, I thought
it was going to just be funny,
but it's sad.
- Yeah, there's
nothing funny about it.
[somber music]
- She was very shrewd in
the way she went about things.
After the financial
collapse of '08,
other communities seemed
to be bouncing back.
So that was concerning.
We just didn't seem
to be recovering
the way
other communities were.
There were no raises
when all of
the surrounding communities,
all our comparables
were getting raises.
You know, why would we be
different than everybody else?
- Even though our taxes
were going up,
we weren't getting any more
money than we had in the past.
Rita would say sales taxes
are being held up
or they're going to be
much less than predicted.
[sirens wailing]
- The thing that really hurts
to watch and see
is our elected officials,
they were good people
who care about Dixon.
And her theft destroyed what
they felt their reputation was,
destroyed what they felt
their impact was.
And so the feeling of betrayal
is something that just
sat right in the core
of so many people
that were close to her.
- It's also a shame that
so many people had to suffer
because of one person's greed.
- This woman took people out
for steak about every night,
and ordered extra so she could
take it home for her dogs.
- That's--
- That's crazy.
All she cared about
was herself,
her fame, and her horses.
- Oh, Rita, Rita, Rita!
You could have used
your powers for good.
You could have helped the town
and helped yourself.
But you just helped yourself
to the town.
And for two decades,
no one caught on
until one person finally did.
Time to meet the whistleblower
who stopped Rita
in her tracks.
[dramatic music]
[horse whinnies]
- I still can't believe this
little town was the site
of the largest citywide theft
I've ever heard of,
all squandered on a lavish
horse-breeding lifestyle
by one city treasurer.
So how did she get caught?
Someone who worked with her
for over 20 years might know.
[chimes ring]
[knocks]
Hi.
[giggles]
- Hi there.
Hi.
Hi, I'm Kathe Swanson.
- I'm Laci.
- Hi, Laci.
- These are for you.
- Thank you so much.
Come on in.
- Kathe Swanson
worked in City Hall
when Rita's empire
came crashing down.
If anyone has the
inside scoop, it's her.
Now, Rita.
- Mm-hmm.
- I know you're quite
familiar with her.
- Oh, yes.
I started with the city
in January of 1991
as deputy treasurer,
which I worked under her.
- What was her vibe?
Like, what was she like?
- She had a swagger about her.
You know, she would--
- OK.
- --sort of sashay.
- Like she knew she was cute,
and she was--
- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- Mm-hmm. OK.
- She wasn't flashy at work.
She didn't have all the
diamonds dripping off of her
like she did
at the horse shows.
She would come back
from the horse shows
and bring all of us girls
something.
- Like what?
- Oh, my God.
- [laughs]
- These ugly, ugly sandals with
horse hanging off the sides.
I wear a size 6 1/2.
She got me a 10.
- It's ugly and it doesn't fit?
- Oh, yeah, well...
- [scoffs]
- I loved the job.
I really did.
People were really nice.
It was like a little family.
There were, like, 120 employees
when I first started.
And then as the years developed
and the money was being taken,
when people retired,
they never rehired anybody
for them, essentially.
- Wow.
And they didn't hire
anybody to support you?
- Nope.
First grandchild was being
born, and I went to her,
said, I'm going to
have a grandchild.
Could you get me some help?
Because I wanted to be with
my daughter and the baby.
- Right.
- Don't worry, Swan.
I'll get somebody to help you.
She left me high and dry.
And then when we'd have
to pay the bills,
she'd stand there and
go through every envelope
and say,
pay this, don't pay this.
Pay this, don't pay this.
Then the police chief went
to her and said, you know,
we need a new radio system
because there are dead spots
in Dixon.
And she told him,
I'm sorry, we don't have
the money in the budget.
- So then, like,
dispatches for emergencies
are not getting heard.
- Correct.
- So people could
very well have died--
- Mm-hmm.
- --because of a theft.
- Exactly.
Exactly.
And every year
at budget sessions,
it was cut, cut, cut, cut.
Everybody's gotta cut.
And let me show you
some of the sheets
that she had on the front of
the budget books for everybody.
- OK.
- Here is a vise,
you know, holding on to money.
- OK.
- Here's a guy
with his pockets out.
And then, you know, cutting.
- So she made these?
- She made these and put them
in front of our budget binders.
- She was like,
we broke, we broke.
Don't ask for money, we broke.
- That's right.
That's right.
Yep.
- Not subtle, either.
- Mm-hmm.
And this is my favorite.
This was the year she was
going to get caught, OK?
The man drowning with the--
in a raft.
She was taking the money
right up to the end.
- That's ridiculous.
- Right up to the end.
- Wow.
- She just left
a little bit enough
to get some of the bills paid.
- But not all of them.
- No.
That really made me mad.
We worked with two banks.
One bank,
I was able to go online
to get anything I wanted.
This bank, Fifth Third Bank,
Rita would never allow me
to go online with them.
- Whoa.
- Yeah.
Except this one day,
Rita was away on a horse show.
[cheers and applause]
I was under the g*n.
I had to get the
treasurer's report out
for the council meeting.
I called them, and I said,
I want every bank statement
of every account we have there,
and I want them faxed to me
in five minutes.
[phone rings, beeps]
I went back and stood
by the fax machine.
[machine buzzing]
And here it comes.
City of Dixon, PO Box 386.
So I looked at it
and I thought,
wow, that's a lot of money.
Uh, three big deposits--
$225,000, $210,000,
and $350,000.
- [scoffs]
- And all of the withdrawals,
the debits in here,
I looked at it,
and this wasn't our account.
But it had the
City of Dixon's name on it,
and I immediately thought,
it doesn't look like it's--
it's legitimate.
So, you know,
checks upon checks--
- Can I hold it?
- Sure.
- I want to hold
some of the crime.
[laughter]
- Kathe's discovery
was the turning point.
The deposits she saw
were massive sums of money
that had no clear source
or legitimate city purpose.
The frequency and size
of these transactions
raised immediate red flags.
Public funds were being
funneled into an account
that only Rita knew about
and only she controlled.
- So I took the statement,
and I hid it down in my car.
[laughter]
And then about
three days later,
the mayor came into my office,
and he started to talk to me
how bad we were
in dire straits--
the city.
And I just sat back
and I said,
Jim, I have something
to tell you.
I said, I've gotten a statement
from Fifth Third.
I said, I've never seen
this bank account before.
So he immediately
called the FBI.
- No hesitation?
- No.
[suspenseful music]
- You all knew that
this was a smoking g*n?
- Yeah.
He said, I think there's
a cancer at City Hall.
That's how he worded it.
- Wow.
♪
- He said, I want to
be wrong about this.
You know, I don't want to
hurt her or her reputation.
And the FBI agent
basically told him,
we're going to
investigate this.
♪
It took six months of
status quo in the office,
carrying on daily duties.
[clock ticking,
water sloshing]
They needed information.
♪
They needed items,
records gathered.
- So you're like a spy now.
- Oh, yeah.
I would go in early.
So I'd go to the fax machine
to see what kind of money
we got in from downstate.
Make copies of those.
[copier buzzing]
Of course, it was gone
by the afternoon.
I had to, you know,
big smile on.
How was your weekend,
and how are the dogs,
and, you know, what'd you do,
and how was your horse show?
- For six months--
- Mm-hmm.
- --you had this secret
of your own.
- Well, I always said I should
have won an Academy Award.
I don't know how I survived.
I really don't.
I drank a lot.
- You were coping.
- Yeah.
I'm glad I did it.
I'm glad that I found it and
was able to stop the bleeding.
But there's
a part of me that...
[sighs] I'm just--
there was just so much,
and it--
it really took a toll on me.
It took a toll on my health.
Towards the end, before I knew
that they were arresting her,
I went into the mayor
one day, frantic.
I was crying, and I said,
Jim, I can't do this anymore.
And he just looked up at me,
and he said, it's today.
[tense music]
- FBI!
[c*ck g*n]
♪
[dramatic music]
- After over 21 years,
Rita Crundwell's $53.7 million
embezzlement scheme ended,
thanks to city clerk
Kathe Swanson--
a hero on all accounts,
but especially
for discovering
Rita's secret accounts.
But having to live through it
was a roller coaster
of emotions.
- He said, the Marshals are
going to take her right now.
So they had her stand up,
and I closed my eyes
to listen to the click
of the handcuffs,
to get some kind of closure.
[handcuffs click]
I thought that would do it
for me, but it really didn't.
I mean, I know that
I did the right thing.
That's the bottom line.
I did do the right thing.
But I was conflicted when
they arrested her that day.
I couldn't come to work
the next morning.
I was crying because
all I could think of was,
did she have a blanket?
Was she cold last night?
That part of me kicked in,
you know?
I'd worked with her for 20--
20-some-odd years, you know?
It was hard.
It really was.
- Rita took so much from you.
- Mm-hmm.
- Do you still feel angry
at what's happened?
- I really hated her.
I really hated
for what she did.
Not only anger that she did it,
but what we all had to suffer.
It wasn't just me.
[somber music]
- You would think that amount
of money would raise red flags.
- How could someone do this
for this many years
and take that much money?
- After she was arrested that
night, the mayor decided he--
he would call
a special meeting.
The infamous
you-know-what hit the fan.
I was scared.
I really was scared.
- Residents are not happy
as they learn about
the alleged crimes.
- This is a traumatic,
upsetting event
that the citizens and council
are experiencing.
- Blame seems to fall
on Rita Crundwell.
But the matter
of accountability
has not been addressed.
- I feel betrayed.
- It's caused a lot of turmoil,
a lot of hard feelings,
a lot of, you know, accusations.
[siren wailing]
- No comment means no comment.
- It's the people's money.
You know, they've been wronged.
Talk about having
a dark shadow cast across
an entire organization
of 100-plus people.
- Despite the cloud
over Dixon's government,
the FBI's thorough
investigation revealed
Rita acted entirely alone.
And with overwhelming
evidence against her,
she pled guilty, hoping
for a reduced sentence.
- 60-year-old Rita Crundwell's
days of freedom
and high living are over.
Today, a judge sentenced her
to 19 years and 7 months
behind bars.
- I'll bet there's a lot
of cheering going on
in Dixon right now.
There absolutely is.
- I did go to her sentencing,
because I wanted to hear her say
"I'm sorry for what I did,"
or apologize to
the citizens of Dixon.
- Mm-hmm.
- She didn't.
She apologized to her
friends and her family.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
- The people who benefited
from what she stole.
- Yeah.
- So after all this fallout,
you have to be the hero, right?
- I don't look at it
as being a hero.
I look at it as doing my job.
You don't take things
that don't belong to you,
and if you see something wrong,
say something.
And that's how
I've always been.
Um, but the one thing was
one of my daughters called me
after it broke,
the story broke.
And she said, Mom,
for years when we were young,
you always told us
how proud you were of us,
and now we're proud of you.
- Aww.
- I have a good life.
I live with a man who loves me.
We own our home.
I have three
wonderful children.
They're all married.
I have three
wonderful grandchildren.
I couldn't ask
for a nicer life.
I've got the world.
She has nothing.
- Looks like Dixon finally
got Rita's hands
out of their pockets.
But Rita was not done
with Dixon just yet.
- Crundwell has written this
lengthy letter to the judge,
begging for early release.
[rhythmic music]
- I'm going to need to borrow
one of your arms on this walk.
- OK.
- Because it is downhill.
- Yes, yes.
- See?
Sturdy.
Solid as a rock.
- I feel like we're at prom.
- [laughs]
It's only been 12 years
since Rita was marched
out of City Hall in handcuffs.
But just like me,
the town of Dixon
has managed to
find solid ground.
- Hey, Mr. Langloss,
how are you?
- Oh, my God.
- What's up, commish?
- Oh, my God.
[laughs]
- That's one of our elected
officials right there.
- What?
- Yeah.
- Wow.
The Reagan statue.
It does have abs.
- It has abs.
- They were like,
leader of the free world,
and winner of
Wet T-shirt Contest.
- Amen.
- Well, I will say,
this doesn't look like a town
that's suffering anymore.
- We are not suffering.
There's never been a more
exciting time to be in Dixon.
We have such
incredible momentum.
We started on the road
to go recover our money.
- To recoup
as much as possible
from the
$53.7 million embezzle,
Dixon auctioned off all
of Rita Crundwell's assets.
Everything must go, including
all five of her kitchen sinks.
- This isn't
your typical sale.
It's being coordinated
by the U.S. Marshals.
- The auction was a spectacle.
- $675,000.
- People came in from
all over the country,
and this was a few days
of just absolutely crazy.
- Now $725,000. $50,000.
Now $775,000.
Sold, $775,000.
- I got her diary.
Here's her diary. It says--
- You got her diary?
- It says her name, 2011.
- It's amazing what millions
of dollars can buy you
and how fast they can
disappear in two days.
[laughs] I think that's
what we're here to see.
- Get ready for this one.
They sold a bunch of
frozen horse semen.
- Horse sperms.
- Yes, so if you--
yes.
- In total, U.S. Marshals
auctioned off five properties,
countless cowboy hats,
and all of the queen's horses,
clawing back a hefty sum
for the people of Dixon.
- I'm an ex-Dixonite,
and I'm hoping
Dixon gets back
as much money as it can.
- $11,000.
- But they didn't stop there.
The next step was suing
the town's auditors,
who were supposed to be
watching over this
and missed Rita's scheme
for over 20 years.
- They had a duty
and responsibility
to investigate, to report
to the city of Dixon,
to find out what was going on.
- Dixon settled their lawsuit
with the auditors
for a hefty sum.
And when you add in
the auction proceeds,
they snatched back
around $52 million,
nearly everything
that Rita took.
And now, with her in jail for
19 years, it's a happy ending.
End of the story, right?
- Reports suggest that
former Dixon comptroller
Rita Crundwell
has been released early
from the Federal Corrections
Institution
in downstate Pekin.
- What led to her release?
Sources indicate that
the CARES Act played a role,
allowing federal inmates
to be released early
to reduce the spread
of COVID-19 in prisons.
- Leave it to Rita
to turn a global pandemic
into her personal loophole.
After serving only 8 years
of her 19-year sentence,
she was released on home
confinement with her family.
Talk about beating the odds.
Pretty fortunate for one of
the biggest embezzlers ever.
- What a travesty of justice
that is.
It was the largest embezzlement
in the history of our country,
and the biggest travesty
of justice I've ever seen.
- I was not happy.
I'm still not comfortable
with her release.
I think the sheer magnitude
of that crime,
she should have served
her full sentence.
I understand she's still on,
you know, supervised release,
you know, whatever that means.
But she's not in jail,
which is where she should be.
- Locally, you know,
Rita sightings are kind of
like sightings of Bigfoot
or the Abominable Snowman
or the Loch Ness monster.
- But it's not for lack
of trying to find her.
- Get out of here.
What are you bothering me for?
Get your [bleep] camera
out of my face, you [bleep]!
- Is Rita staying with you, or--
- Rita who?
Who would you like?
- Your sister who wrote
a letter to the judge
that she was going to stay
with you if she was released.
- Do me a favor and kiss
my [bleep] [bleep].
- While some still
seek answers from Rita,
Dixon's government
has turned its focus
on rebuilding confidence.
- Boy, a lot of things
are different,
and every aspect
of city financials
has changed dramatically--
clear oversight,
very thorough accounting.
- No more letting
the trusted horse whisperer
run the treasury.
But that's not all.
The town has harnessed
its economic rebound
to upgrade infrastructure
and pave the way
for a more prosperous future.
- Dixon is in
a wonderful position now.
There's a lot to be proud of.
- We've been able to do
the riverfront project,
which has become
a real centerpiece
to the community.
- The key is--
I think this is so important.
You can't look in
the rearview mirror.
We got to keep our eyes
on the future.
We got to keep creating
the future of Dixon.
Rita is just a name.
She matters no more.
I think good government
means transparency,
and every level is trusted.
That's why trust is
the currency of leadership.
The problem is,
and in Reagan's words--
- Trust but verify.
[laughter]
[horse whinnies]
- So talk about a wild ride.
To the right.
Whoo!
We talked about this.
OK, now you backtalking me.
I have to say,
I am so impressed
with the attitude
of Dixonites.
In my experience,
victims of scams
can be paralyzed by shame.
And sure,
there's some of that here.
- The magnitude will
live on for generations.
People won't forget that.
I just hope
they'll come to a time
we can move on and go back to
being Ronald Reagan's hometown.
- But Dixon, you are so much
more than Ronald Reagan.
Y'all put him up everywhere!
[line rings]
Rita, come on now.
Pick up.
I know you want to talk.
I don't know if
I'll ever encounter
another con artist so daring
they almost brought down
an entire town.
OK, girl, get back to me, OK?
But here's the thing
I do know about frauds--
there's always the next one.
On to the next scam.
Come on, Trixie, girl.
[horse whinnies]
But not at the grass.
No, girl.
You just had lunch.
Please.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Miami was the playground...
...where Peggy King...
...well, she played her game...
...swiping millions.
Well, if X, Y, and Z are
working with her,
...she must be legit.
Peggy targeted athletes.
I handed over $6 million
to Peggy.
She was friend.
She was family.
Like a wolf in sheep's clothing.
She was using the connections-
To something bigger and better.
One big fish after another.
What happened
that brought it all down?
Oh!
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