The Largest Municipal Fraud in US History

It happened in a small rural Illinois town called Dixon, population 16,000. An estimated $54 million was misappropriated by just one woman, Rita Crundwell, the town’s comptroller.
The form of city government was key in how this was all possible. Dixon is a commission form of government whereby the executive and legislative functions are combined into a city council that passes both ordinances and run municipal departments. The commission form was first implemented in Galveston, Texas to rebuild after a hurricane. It is believed that this allows streamlining of policymaking and implementation. It also prevents a single mayor to becoming too powerful by distributing the executive authority among several elected officials. The problem is that there are typical checks and balances missing. The people that make the laws should not be also executing those same laws. Most of the people in government in Dixon were also running businesses on the side which allowed them to enrich themselves.
Rita Crundwell spent the stolen money on a Florida, expensive horses and horse equipment, cars, and various other luxury goods before she was caught by the FBI and sentenced to federal prison.
Works Cited:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/12/dixon-illinois-city-fraud-betrayal-00075869?cid=apn
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