m e highest high to the lowest low in just a period of a couple of years. it's a classic american story in some ways. glad that you guys could come by and take a look around. so thanks again, and we'll see you later. >> narrator: in this episode of "american greed"... ride 'em, cowgirl! rita crundwell appears to be a in this episode of american greed, ride 'em, cow girl. rita appeared to be a humble civil servant. living a double life as a world champion horse breeder and deception comes at a huge price. >> the thing i've learned about showing horses, you must be either independently wealthy or you're stealing money. >> when she diverts $53 million of money into her horse empire, she leaves a city on the verge of collapse. >> people are going to have to

lose their jobs to balance this budget for, what, a horse? a trophy are you kidding me >> narrator: in the fall of 2011, as autumn leaves begin to warm the landscape of the in the fall of 2011, as autumn leaves begin to warm the landscape of the picturesque town of dixon, illinois, a cold reality is taking hold >> the city was drowning in debt there were streets that went unpaved. there were sidewalks that went unfixed because the city, as they believed, had no money to take care of those sorts of things >> dixon mayor jim burke hears the message of distress year after year, comptroller rita crumb well >> she would present the figures for the annual budget workshop

and it showed it was going to be nip and tuck. >> but this fall she's taking vacation time for her quarter horse exhibition >> she's hoping to add to her collection back in dixon, however, the woman filling in for crumb well goes through the city's financials and uncovers a mysterious bank account under crumb well's control in september alone she finds more than 750,000 siphoned into that strange account from the city's coiffeurs she alerts the mayor. >> our city clerk brought a bank statement to me and she said, i cannot connect this with anything i started to get sick to my stomach because i realized this was a big rip off going on >> six months later mayor burke sits in front of the citizens of

dixon and cameras from media outlets across the country to explain what authorities believe may be the biggest municipal fraud in u.s. history. >> first of all, i'd like to thank the fbi for their comprehensive response for criminal investigation into this manner this is a dramatic, upsetting event with the citizens are experiencing. >> traumatic and upsetting are not words typically used in association with dixon, illinois u.s. marshal jason modillo is dispatched days after mayor burke's press conference in the spring of 2012. >> the city was the size of 15, 16,000 people. good, hard working farmers a lot of farmers in the community. typical hartland city. >> rita has worked there since 1970 beginning as an eager high schooler and eventually making her way up to city comptroller

in 1983. >> my name is dan landloss, police chief. >> crumb well has been the trusted guardian of the city's finances for 25 years. >> she was very well regarded, well respected if you need something, go to rita and everybody always looked at her she fixed any problems, take care of anything that needed to be done. >> if crumbwell's dependability is exhibited in her work, her passion is on display in another arena, showing quarter horses at exhibitions nationwide marsha freeman breaks and trains horses near crumbwell's home in illinois and remembers the early years in the mid '80s. >> at that point she was the regular horse person showing horses as a hobby which would involve moving it on a thursday, showing horses friday, saturday, sunday returning back home and going back to a normal job and

work week. >> but crumbwell takes this more seriously than a weekend hobby in 1990 she starts her own horse breeding business named rc quarter horses llc there's only one problem. >> showing horses is an expensive hobby. you need some startup cash to do it correctly. >> with her humble background, crumbwell doesn't have enough money to support the boarding, medical care, transportation and trainers necessary for a world class breeding program, but as dixon's comptroller, large amounts of cash pass through her hands every day. according to assistant u.s. attorney joe peterson, on december 18th, 1998, crumbwell crosses a line that would change her life and the city of dixon forever. she opens a secret bank account in the city's name >> she named it the rscda account which stood for some

acronym involving reserve sewer account. it was not a legitimate city account. >> because crumb well has full authority to write checks on the city's behalf, it's easy to filter money into the new government account. >> she was creating fictitious invoices representing different projects going on in the city that in fact were never going on and she would pay the bills, she would pay the invoices and then deposit those checks into the secret bank account. >> as the fbi will come to learn, with no one else's eyes on the secret account, crumb well can divert this into her personal bill and she does. >> it has become known as the single largest municipal fraud in u.s. history. rita crumbwell uses the money to become a world beater the city of dixon is beaten down. >> it becomes a free-for-all for

her. she was aware of the infrastructure projects that needed to be performed in the city, but again feeding her ego seemed to be more important.

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>> narrator: by 2010, small-town comptroller rita crundwell has developed an unbridled passion by 2010, small town comptroller rita krundwell has victory in the world of show horses bud jennings is a veteran horse auctioneer who has also been showing and judging horse competitions for more than 30 years. even he is impressed as he watches crundwell turn a one horse stable into an american quarter horse dynasty. >> over the last i'd say 10 to 12 years she had elevated herself to be in the very toppish line of breeders and and she isn't

>> she has more than 400 horses, 50 become world champions in their class and she isn't shy about her success. >> she would show up with this entourage of tractors and trailers, 18-wheeler type rigs rita crundwell became a brand and it was the brand that was feeding her ego. the only way it was being fed in this case was by siphoning money off from the city of dixon. >> with prize money typically coming in at 5 to $10,000, winning doesn't equal riches. >> it's expensive to get to her level and she had horses in over 15 states where she would pay people to board the horses, train them, feed them. that costs a lot of money. >>everything i've learned abou showing horses, you must either

be independently wealthy or you're stealing the money. >> and rita crundwell is not independently wealthy. in reality it was being funded by the city. each year her theft grows more outrageous. >> this depicts a graph of what the total loss was, what she was stealing she started out in 1991, she stole $181,000 as it progressed in 1999 she had hit the million dollar mark and two years later she's in the $2 million mark escalates to over 5 million by 2008 it all depicts the total loss of more than $53 million. >> it's a simple fraud that points to a systemic failure of dixon's government. >> there were no checks and balances no separation of duties.

no segregation of duties she did it all >> with that power, she has the city's checkbook to use. >> when people are part time, they're trying to earn a living to provide for their families doing something other than running the city people simply weren't asking enough questions or perhaps the right questions. >> in the meantime, crundwell is stealing more money under dixon's nose than ever every year they have to make tough decisions to stay afloat >> in 1999 they had to cut 38 thousand dollars and she stole $5.6 million in that year. >> year after year less money for her basic needs and more

money for the world champion lifestyle. >> she purchased several motor homes during the course of the scheme she purchased one for $2 million. she purchased several homes. she purchased land she purchased a large number of vehicles she purchased jewelry for herself and others >> hundreds and hundreds of pieces of jewelry, a lot of it custom made as you can see, with her name on it, with the c again her brand, good ride was the name of that necklace. >> back on the ranch, her extravagant trophy room was a shrine to her accomplishments paid in full by dixon taxpayers. >> her room weeks of wealth. she had custom made bar stools, sofas, horse theme it was clear where she was spending a lot of the money that she was stealing. >> but to residents of dixon,

the new found wealth is a perfectly reasonable explanation. >> there would be stories floating around town that she had sold a horse for, say, $250,000 she had people coming from all over the united states, even people that came from europe for an auction she did a great job of cultivating the story she had a successful business. >> it is my understanding that she really didn't show a lot of glamor in the city she wasn't wearing a lot of expensive jewelry. wasn't wearing a lot of expensive clothing and the clothing she bought to take to the horseshoes, if you're in that industry, you understand that it is rather expensive. >> it's another way that crundwell keeps her life secret.

>> a lot of people come into the industry and spend money mostly we're glad they're in our business for a while. >> reporter: but she won't be an industry leader much longer. when "american greed" returns, on her quest to do this, she takes a leave from work and she was caught when she went on vacation we're carvana, the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand-new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a year old or a few years old. we wanna buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate answer a few questions. and our techno wizardry

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>> narrator: by the fall of 2011, dixon comptroller rita crundwell's message of by the fall of 2011, dixon comptroller rita crundwell's prosperity had been agonizingly repetitive. >> each year at the budget hearings she would show up the latter years as it came out as evidence in this case she would show up with booklets where she had caricatures of someone drowning, or a pair of scissors and it was -- her message was cut, cut, cut.

>> eventually the heads of the city's various departments learned to simply stop asking for funding. >> again, not to be critical of the form of government, but when you have part-time city administrators, the mayor's part time, the city commissioners are part time, they were relying very understandably on the annual audits that were occurring or not occurring. >> 21 annual audits and no warnings of any red flags. i read these audits over every year and there was never, never any indication that they found anything we ought to be taking a look at. >> another piece of the puzzle is that evidence came out during the civil litigation that the auditor had a personal interest with rita crundwell.

he had asked her out on dates. his eyes perhaps were a little glazed over? how could they not have known $50 million were missing. >> to put this in context, when the city was a smaller population, a smaller government, when the large box stores didn't exist in the community, when the illinois toll road wasn't going through the county, the budget wasn't as large. as the city grew over time, understandably there was more revenue being generated, from real property and the like as it grew the city wasn't missing it, they didn't know it existed. >> in october 2011, crmndwell looks to add more in columbus,

ohio it comes at a huge spot. filling in for crundwell, the city clerk uncovers the phony sewer account. >> one of the statements from the rcdca account comes across her desk she looked at it and expressed the concerns the mayor and then he forwarded it to the fbi. >> for mayor burke it's the beginning of six months of unbearable anxiety as he sits back and watches crundwell steal millions. >> once i knew what her method of operation was, we were able to see she was taking these funds. i told the fbi if we don't find this pretty quick, there won't be any money left at the rate she's going. when "american greed" returns, the fbi is ready to make an arrest >> i said, these three gentlemen

would like to talk with you. she said, sure and her face never changed motion or anything i was watching that carefully to see how she would react and it was just like real non-chalant. >> feeling greedy? want more of your stories? american greed on twitter.

>> narrator: finally, in the spring of 2012, mayor burke is told that the fbi is ready to make an arrest. early in the morning on april 17th, crundwell walks into mayor burke's office and finds three fbi agents waiting. >> yeah, i said, "these three gentlemen would like to talk with you."

she said, "sure." and the -- her face never changed emotion or anything. i was watching that carefully to see how she would react, and it was just, like, real nonchalant. almost made me wonder if she hadn't, you know, kind of mentally rehearsed. >> narrator: later that day, crundwell is escorted from the office, charged with one count of wire fraud, but for u.s. marshal jason wojdylo, the work is just beginning. he seizes crundwell's possessions... and brings in auctioneer mike jennings to conduct one of the largest, most prestigious horse auctions in the world... all to raise money to give back to the town. >> this was a world-prized herd that was being sold, and i knew that people were gonna come from around the world to dixon, illinois, for this auction, and they were gonna spend money. they were gonna eat at restaurants, they were gonna stay at hotels, and all that tax revenue was gonna be a by-product or our auction, but they were going to spend money

and eat at restaurants and stay at hotels. all of that tax revenue was going to be a by-product of our auction but it was very important to me having sat down across from the dinner tables of many of these people in this community who were true victims who were victimized for so long and deprived of services it was very important to have that auction, the live auction in dixon, illinois >> crundwell's horses bring in $5.5 million combined with selling her other properties and assets, the u.s. marshals returned to dixon about $9.2 million. most of the rest of the 53 million were the sunken greed. >> five months that we managed "the herd" we spent about $1.8 million in costs that's simply to manage the herd we're not showing the horses our taking over the operation i

think speaks to knowing what we were paying, clearly what she must have been paying. >> but it turns out all is not lost in october 2013 mayor burke addresses the town of dixon once again. the year before the city sued its two auditors for not protecting $53 million being diverted into crundwell's. it sues fifth third bank for allowing them to operate the account under their noses. they agreed to pay $40 million back to the city of dixon. >> out of this will come a better, a solider, and a more attractive dixon for all of us to live in. >> crundwell pleads guilty to one count of wire fraud. on february 14th, 2013, was sentenced to 19 years and 7 months in prison if she's ever going to see

dixon's economic recovery, it won't be until she's 77 years old. in the meantime people who work with her day in and day out still have questions >> how could you, rita how could you? how could you hurt so many people how could you do this? people's jobs, people's families at risk over your greed for, what, a horse? for a trophy are you kidding me - [announcer] the following program is a paid advertisement for nuwave oxypure smart air purifier sponsored by nuwave llc, featuring deborah norville on award winning journalist and new york times bestselling author. - we are all living in strange and unsettling times. never in history has everyone on the planet been challenged by the same thing. covid-19 has changed the way we work, the way we interact and we're all still trying to figure out what it means for our future. amidst the uncertainty, all of us are trying to take care of our families as best as possible. i've lost track of how many masks i've made

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