Where did she spend it?
Prosecutors file copies of Crundwell checks ahead of today’s sentencing
Comments (...)DIXON – Rita Crundwell wrote 47 checks in September 2009 to pay a variety of bills for horse training, utilities, vehicles, and western-themed belts and buckles.
All were written directly from the secret bank account through which she filtered nearly $54 million in city money over two decades.
New court documents filed Wednesday reveal Crundwell wrote checks and made online payments from the Reserve Capital Development Account to pay personal and business expenses.
Federal prosecutors filed copies of the checks and other financial documents Wednesday, ahead of this morning’s sentencing of the ousted city comptroller.
Crundwell, 60, faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in November to wire fraud.
She has admitted using millions of taxpayer dollars to create and maintain a world-renowned horse breeding operation, and to buy all the trappings of a wealthy lifestyle – homes, cars, boats, jewelry, furnishings and clothing.
Crundwell opened the RSCDA account in the city’s name at First Bank South, now Fifth Third Bank, in December 1990 in Amboy. She began depositing money into that account as early as January 1991.
Checks list the account holder as “R.S.C.D.A. c/o Rita Crundwell” and include a Dixon P.O. box.
At the time of her April 17 arrest, it had a balance of $191,357.75.
Most of the checks included in Wednesday’s filing were written in 2009, the year Crundwell stole nearly $5.6 million from the city.
They show that:
– In April 2009, Crundwell wrote a check from the RSCDA account and made it out to her personal bank account for $150,000 in April 2009.
– In September 2009, she wrote a check for $225,000 from the account and made it out to her business account, R.C. Quarter Horses; two checks totaling $25,020 to the American Quarter Horse Association; and one for $26,450 to Holland & Sons, a John Deere dealership that has an office in Dixon.
– She wrote three checks to the business account in January and June 2010 and March 28 – less than a month before her arrest – totaling $275,000.
– She also wrote checks to various horse trainers, ComEd, an agriculture insurance company, an Ohio-based belt and buckle maker, and a lumber company, among others.
None of the checks included in the filing indicates what the payments were for.
An RSCDA bank statement covering September 2009 showed Crundwell wrote 47 checks totaling $463,883.70 and made two deposits totaling $765,000. She made 17 withdrawals and debits totaling nearly $107,000, and used the money to make online credit card and utility payments.
To read more
Go to http://shawurl.com/ifp to read the latest Crundwell court documents and see copies of the checks.
Comments
Total Comments 2 View/Add Comments |
Most Recent Comment wrote on ...
no matter how big the amount or small, she took money from the pockets of people who trusted her position in the city. She cost the legal system through the tax payers unlimited more fees for her defense.As a society we have shown how weak we can be out of the fear of possibly being a victim ourselves of the system. This is happening through the UNited States at all levels of government and it won't stop until the plea bargains stop! |
