'Scam Goddess': Dixon's Rita Crundwell featured in new Hulu series
DIXON, Ill. (WTVO) – Former Dixon comptroller and convicted embezzler Rita Crundwell is again making headlines.
This time, Crundwell is the subject of the first episode of “Scam Goddess,” a series that premiered Jan. 15 on Freeform and is now streaming on Hulu.
The episode, “The Horseplay Heist,” follows Crundwell’s rise from small-town farm girl girl with a love for horses to Dixon’s comptroller and how she began stealing what would be $53.7 million from the city over 22 years.
Hosted by podcaster and comedian, “The Horseplay Heist,” takes a slightly tongue-and-cheek look at Crundwell’s criminal enterprise and how simple it was for the now 72-year-old to pull off the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history.
Mosley includes extended interviews with Dixon City Manager Danny Langloss, townspeople who aren’t afraid to admit that Rita Crundwell is a sore subject and former Deputy Treasurer Kathe Swanson, who discovered her crimes.
“I would go in early,” Swanson explains about how she worked with law enforcement for six months in 2011 and 2012 to help build a case against Crundwell. “…I had to put a big smile on. It really took a toll on me.”
The scam began in December 1990, when Crundwell opened a secret bank account she called “Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account (RSCDA).” Crundwell was the only signatory; it appeared to be regular city account so nobody questioned it.
Crundwell deposited city dollars into the legitimate “Capital Development Fund.” To steal those funds, she created fake invoices for various projects the city had no connections to and wrote checks for them, payable to “Treasurer.” Those checks were deposited into the secret RSCDA account.
Swanson noticed the secret account—and large amounts of cash that were moving in and out of it—when Crundwell was on vacation.
Stealing an average of $2.5 million per year from the city, Crundwell bilked $5.8 million in 2008 alone.She used the cash to buy homes, vehicles and bankroll a multi-million-dollar quarter horse operation that had a reputation as one of the best in the country.
In 2013, Crundwell was ordered to serve 19 years and 7 months in federal prison, a sentence that would have kept her behind bars until 2029, when she was eligible for early release. Instead, Crundwell was released on home confinement in 2021, citing health problems during the pandemic.
On Dec. 12, 2024, President Joe Biden commuted her sentenced, freeing Crundwell from any further obligation to the justice system.
After auctioning off Crundwell’s assets, Dixon recovered more about $9 million in what she stole. The city reached a settlement of more than $40 million in a lawsuit against Fifth Third Bank and auditing firm Clifton Gunderson.
Crundwell is also subject of the Kartemquin Films documentary, “.”
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