Rita Crundwell: Mastermind Behind Largest Municipal Fraud in U.S. History Rita Crundwell was the trusted comptroller and treasurer of Dixon, Illinois with a passion for horses. She took advantage of her trust and responsibility to commit the largest known municipal fraud in the history of the United States. This fraudster has surprised and astounded people around the world by the amount of the fraud and for how long it went. Rita served the small town of Dixon from 1983 to 2012 until sentenced to nearly twenty years in federal prison for embezzling an astonishing $53.7 million. The story of this Dixon Commissioner shocked her small town and is studied by auditors all over. When someone thinks of a typical fraudster, it is not likely he or she would describe a person like Rita Crundwell. She was born on January 10, 1953; she grew up on her family’s farm near Dixon. Her family had a good reputation in the community, and she got an internship with the City of Dixon in high school. After her high school …show more content…
Streets were going unpaved, ambulances and police radios needed to be replaced, Dixon city employees had gone years without a raise, and the infrastructure was in a state of total disorder. The cash flow issues caused by Rita's fraud seemed to be caused by the financial crisis and economic recession of the late 2000's. In an October 2011 City Council meeting, officials were worried about a "fiscal crisis" that kept them from hiring part-time employees (Pearce, 2015). Paula Meyer, Dixon's current finance director, said that from the time Rita started to steal, "the city had about $10 million in a fund balance", but "by the time she was arrested, we were $22 million in debt" (Pearce, 2015). Liandro Arellano, member of the all-new City Council for Dixon, said "the city had been borrowing $5 million a year at the end of it because she was stealing so much" (Pearce,
Debra became the assistant vice-president and manager of energy lending of a Canadian Western Bank on January 31, 2006. Within a month Debra set up her embezzlement scam by creating two corporations that the embezzled funds would be funnelled too. Debra set up an account in a woman’s name using the woman’s GIC (guaranteed investment certificate) which was worth 8 million dollars. Debra started with 100,000 dollars in a line of credit using the woman’s name and increased it 6 times until the line of credit reached $950,0000 on November 6, 2007. Additionally, Debra arranged for 5 new accounts in the same woman’s name with a total deposit of $16.4 million. Debra made 72 unauthorized withdrawals from the fake account in the two year time frame of the scam. She kept the scam going by transferring money from the
Con man, Neal Caffrey was arrested for bond forgery and theft. He was sentenced to four years. Neal escaped prison months prior to his release in order to look for
Corruption is an individual and institutional process where there is a gain by a public official from a briber and in return receives a service. Between the gain and the service, there is an improper connection, (Thompson p.28). The two major categories of bribery is individual and institutional corruption. Receiving personal goods for the pursuit of one’s own benefit is personal fraud. An example of individual distortion is the financial scandal involving David Durenberger. Organizational corruption involves “receiving goods that are useable primarily in the political process and are necessary for doing a job or are essential by-products of doing it,” (Thompson p.30). An instance of institutional fraud is the Keating Five case. There are also times where there is a mixture of both individual and organizational corruption in a scandal. An example of this diverse combination is James C. Wright Jr. actions while he was the Speaker of the House.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States. Since its creation in 1789, 112 justices have served on the Court. Of these 112 justices, four of them are women. President Ronald Reagan appointed the first female justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, in 1981; she served for 25 years. Sandra Day O’Connor changed the face of women in politics. Men dominated the Supreme Court yet Sandra Day O’Connor made strides in feminist politics and women's rights by breaking the glass ceiling in the legal profession. She offered an unbiased point of view on many topics including abortion rights, the death penalty, and affirmative action.
Dorothy Napangardi was born in approximately 1956. Dorothy grew up in Mina Mina, Jukurrpa. This relates to a major Women’s Dreaming site that is sacred to Warlpiri women of the Napangardi and Napanangka skin groups. She grew up in the Yuendumu Community which is 300 km away from Alice Springs in Central Australia.
It is hard to believe that a single photographer captured this image. The photographer who captured this incredible picture goes by the name of Margaret Bourke-White. According to the caption, this image was taken around 1937 and it depicts 16 African Americans including one white girl that are standing in a line, carrying various personal belongings as if they were leaving to go away somewhere. Each of these individuals standing in line has nice cold weather clothing on and each of them have looks of indifference. You can easily see that these people are not happy at all. These people are the main focus in the image; they are standing in line in every ounce of hope whether it be retrieving clothing or food. The most striking feature of this photo is that they are standing in front of an “American Dream” billboard. The billboard displays a wealthy Caucasian family riding in a car and they each have a look of joy and happiness. The family even has a little dog with his head sticking out of the window as if he is having the time of his life, followed by two children in the back seat wi...
Corruption - L.A. in the 1930’s. You Gotta Love It!” Crooks and Liars. Web. 03
Many people know about or have witnessed this corruption taking place and numerous attempts to rid of it have been made. It is not an easy task attempting to bring justice to where justice should be made. There ...
While researching which career in journalism, Nelly Torres will study at Post University in December 2016. She will work as a sports journalist in this industry and write stories about sports.
The word “great” has many definitions. But to me, one of the ways to define “great” is a feminist. For this essay, I chose Irene Parlby. She achieved goals and introduced new laws for women. Irene was among the Famous Five. She and so many other feminists had the courage and power to fight for the rights of women. Irene stood out to me as a person because her achievements meant a lot to me.
Over the years, African-Americans have played a pivotal role in the development and growth of the golf and contributed to its widespread popularity throughout the world. There is a new generation of African American youth interested and actively involved in the sport of golf. These youngsters express the desire to become the “New Age” stars in the sport of golf. Ginger Howard is one of the emerging African-American golfing prodigies who has established many records in the junior golf world and continues to be inspired to fulfill the dream of becoming a LPGA professional.
Lucille Mulhall was born on October 21, 1885 in Oklahoma and died December 21, 1940 in Oklahoma when she got in a terrible vehicle accident. She is the first born child of Zach (1847-1931) and Mary Agnes Mulhall (1859-1931). Her sister’s name is Margaret Reed (1906-1925) and she was the last child born. She married her first husband in 1916 and his name was Martin Van Bergen. Lucille then divorced this man and married a man named Thomas Loyd Burnett (1871-1939). He was born in Denton County, Texas and died in Wichita County, Texas on December 26, 1938. Lucille Mulhall was a soft spoken and beautiful young lady. She was very feminine and had a very good education. When she was a teenager, she was known as one of the top cowboy performers in
Background Known today as Madam CJ Walker that was not the name she was given on December 23, 1867. Sarah was orphaned at the young age of seven and was able to survive by working in the cotton fields of Delta and Mississippi. In an attempt to escape abuse from her sisters, (Louvenia sisters name) husband she married at the age of 14 (married Moses McWilliams). She has one daughter names Lelia, currently known as A'Lelia Walker.
Over the past centuries, South Florida counties mayor-council forms have been frequently correlated to the association of corrupted government officials. Constituents have been conditioned to expect local governments' corruption tactics, but levels of endurance have been set; meaning they can take but so much before the people speak out. Supporters or fans are mesmerized by officials as they campaign and rally for locals' support. Speeches of lies and deceit have become the leading jargon of political speeches. Lowering taxes, creating jobs, and decreasing crime rates are the propaganda political leaders propose to the vulnerable followers. The forgotten promises become a vague memory why officials were elected in office. Instead of meeting the goals they had aimed to achieve, they warm their plush leather mayor's seats; plant a few trees in the city; kiss a few babies, and make the city treasury their personal piggy banks (e.g. former Mayor Carlos Alvarez). Apparently, the obligations as a mayor have been hindered by lust and greed once they are in office. The ethics of the true meaning of a mayor and their duties have been manipulated, and abandoned, from the true origins of mayor-council form obligations. In addition, constituents have repressed their opinions and subdue to corruption, despite the evident abuse of power. Locals believe their voices will be ignored; hence, they are willing to accept repression and undergo corruption until they think the well has run dry. Multiple occurrences of mayor political corruption surrounds the argument what permits the mishandling of power? Theoretically, the differentiations of weak mayor-council form versus strong mayor-council form are variables in variation of the ou...
“When I sing, I don't want them to see that my face is black. I don't want them to see that my face is white. I want them to see my soul. And that is colorless.” Marian Anderson, an African American opera singer, was not only known for her soprano to bass voice range, but also for her positive attitude on being a black singer during the Civil Rights Movement (Bio). Although Marian is not widely known today, her success at such a young age, numerous famous performances, perseverance during the Constitution Hall incident, and her attitude after the incident caused not only Americans, but presidents to look at civil rights differently.