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- [00:00]
Sarah Hagie
Wonder plus subscribers can listen to scamfluencers.
- [00:03]
Sachi Cole
Early and ad free right now.
- [00:05]
Sarah Hagie
Join Wonder plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts.
- [00:08]
Sachi Cole
Hey, everyone. We'll be back next week with all new episodes, but in the meantime, we're returning to one of our scammers who actually has a huge update.
- [00:17]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. Rita Crundwell was an unassuming comptroller of her small hometown of Dixon, Illinois, until she decided to crime big time. To pursue her horse girl dreams, Rita stole more than $53 million to buy Fancy horses, trailers and outfits for horse shows. But she also built a mansion with a pool, a house in Florida, and crystal studded SpongeBob jewelry. It was the largest municipal theft in U.S. history. She was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison. But in 2021, after serving just eight years, she was released to a halfway house to serve the rest of her time. But in December 2024, then President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1500 people in one day, including Rita.
- [01:07]
Sachi Cole
Biden said that, quote, these commutation recipients who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance. You know, I feel kind of ambivalent about this. This is not the worst thing Biden did at any point in his political career, but I imagine people in her hometown weren't very happy about it.
- [01:30]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, this did not go over well with the people of Dixon. Dixon City manager Danny Langloss Jr. Said the decision to commute Rita's sentence was, quote, a complete travesty of justice and a slap in the face for our entire community. No word on whether Rita has plans to re enter the horse world, but wherever she is, she. She's living scot free. This story came up during our Thanksgiving special and it reminded us just how insane this story was. And now we're sharing it with you so you can join the chorus online screaming how crazy the pardon is. Happy listening, Sachi. When you hear the term horse girl, what comes to mind?
- [02:14]
Sachi Cole
Rich 20 year old girls in Bushwick doing ketamine.
- [02:18]
Sarah Hagie
Okay, well, I picture something a bit more wholesome. I just honestly picture a girl with a long ponytail and maybe she's a bit of a bitch, but she gets shit done, you know?
- [02:28]
Sachi Cole
Is she also doing ketamine?
- [02:30]
Sarah Hagie
She could be.
- [02:31]
Sachi Cole
Okay, all right then. I'm on board.
- [02:32]
Sarah Hagie
Well, I am about to tell you about the ultimate horse girl. One who actually almost got away with a record breaking scam. It's November 2011, and thousands of people are gathered in Oklahoma City for the American Quarter Horse Horse Association's World Championship show. This is like the super bowl of the horse show world. It is a very big deal. But there's one woman who's the biggest deal of all. She's probably rolling up in her $2.1 million RV. Her name's Rita Crundwell, and she's a blonde in her 50s. She's wearing a huge white cowboy hat and a matching bedazzled jacket. She's known for her fancy show outfits with shirts that cost around $1,800. And it's not just a giant RV and bougie fits that make Rita the one to watch here. She's also got a caravan of trailers with her initials emblazoned on the side and a small herd of horses. Most competitors have one or two, maybe three horses here today, but Rita's got six times that. The more horses an owner has, the more wins they can rack up. And no one is surprised when Rita wins the Oklahoma City leading owner award for the eighth year in a row. It's her undisputed crown. She's leagues ahead of her competitors, mostly because she spent millions over the last two decades buying and breeding some 400 quarter horses. But Rita is hiding a dark secret. Her dominance has only been possible because she's running one of the biggest city government scams ever. She's stealing practically every last penny from her hometown. When the truth comes out, it'll topple her horse kingdom and make her infamous.
- [04:23]
Sachi Cole
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- [04:35]
Sarah Hagie
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- [04:47]
Sachi Cole
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- [04:56]
Sarah Hagie
So upgrade your business and get the same checkout that companies like Aloe use.
- [05:00]
Sachi Cole
Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.comscampod all lowercase go to shopify.comscampod to upgrade your selling today.
- [05:09]
Sarah Hagie
Shopify.comscampod.
- [05:16]
Sachi Cole
Mom, I need to lay low.
- [05:17]
Sarah Hagie
For a few days.
- [05:18]
Sachi Cole
Lay low?
- [05:18]
Sarah Hagie
What's going on?
- [05:19]
Sachi Cole
I only paid for this Hyundai TUC Christopher Allen lynch deal.
- [05:24]
Sarah Hagie
So right it almost feels wrong.
- [05:25]
Sachi Cole
Get the car or SUV you want.
- [05:27]
Sarah Hagie
At the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Get 0.99 APR for 60 months or 7500 EV bonus on the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Visit your local Hyundai dealer today. Offers end March 31. Call 562-314-4603 for details. From Wondery. I'm Sarah Haggie.
- [05:50]
Sachi Cole
And I'm Sachi Kol.
- [05:51]
Sarah Hagie
And this is Scamfluencers. Come and give me your attention. I won't ever learn my lesson.
- [05:57]
Sachi Cole
Turn my speakers to 11. I feel like a legend.
- [06:01]
Sarah Hagie
Rita Crundwell is basically just a horse girl who grew up refused to let her horse girl dreams die and went on to steal a ton of money from her day job in order to fund her obsession. And Sashi, this scam is a rare breed. Rita stole millions of dollars and somehow she got away with it for more than 20 years. I cannot wait, wait to take you on this crazy ride. So buckle up and hold onto your horses. This is the Quarter Horse Queen. It's June of 1971. Rita Crundwell is in her hometown of Dixon, Illinois, walking in her high school graduation ceremony. Dixon is about two hours west of Chicago, and it's quintessential Americana. Its claim to fame is that Ronald Reagan grew up there. Rita's 18, with mousy brown hair, a crooked smile, and the nerdiest octagon shaped glasses I've ever seen. Check out this photo of her from high school.
- [07:07]
Sachi Cole
Rita looks like one of the Manson sisters.
- [07:10]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, she. She definitely has the 70s vibe.
- [07:13]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, I'm into it.
- [07:14]
Sarah Hagie
And Rita's smart, with a bright future ahead of her. But she's wavering over what she wants to do with her life. On the one hand, there's college, but on the other, she's got a job offer. She spent the last year interning at City Hall. Now her mentor, the city's comptroller, wants her to stay on full time. She even hints that maybe one day Rita can take over the comptroller job, which is basically a more powerful treasurer position. We don't know what Rita dreamt of doing as a kid, but. But I'm going to assume it wasn't being a glorified accountant for her small town. What she probably dreamt of doing was showing quarter horses. They're like the Swiss army knives of the equestrian world. They're good at everything from racing to working with cattle. And also, people love to show them the Same way they show dogs. Rita and her younger sister grew up on a farm. They watched their mom compete in shows, running alongside beautiful horses and beaming at the crowd. Rita's got her mom's competitive drive. She's constantly fighting with her sister over who will show the better horses. And Rita always wins because when she wants something, she gets it. As she crosses the stage to collect her diploma, I imagine she looks into the audience and finds her mom. And maybe she thinks it wouldn't be so bad to follow in her footsteps. She could stay in Dickson and make a decent living. Showing quarter horses is an expensive hobby, but if she starts working now, she could save up to buy her own horses someday. So that summer, Rita takes a job at City hall and starts down a path that will eventually make her famous for all the wrong reasons. It's about a decade later, and things are not going well for Rita. She's ditched the glasses and dyed her hair blonde. But she's still in Dixon, working at City hall, and she's about to divorce a real jerk of a husband. To make matters worse, her mom recently passed away without ever seeing her daughter win a national award. But it seems like her mom's passing only makes Rita more obsessed with showing quarter horses. She saved up enough money to buy her first horse and start competing, and she's determined to rise up the ranks. I actually have a picture of her from around this time. Sashi, could you please describe it?
- [09:34]
Sachi Cole
It's very 80s. Rita is wearing like a puffy black vest and black jeans and white sneakers, and she's got kind of bouffant blonde hair, and she's guiding a very good looking hors.
- [09:49]
Sarah Hagie
Yes, well, one day, Rita's back in the saddle at the 1985 Indiana State Quarter Horse Championship. But something feels different. She can sense it. As she parades her horse around for the judges, they score both Rita and the horse's performance, accounting for her showmanship and how well the horse hits its marks. Rita holds her breath, and then the judges announce she's the winner. It's the biggest win of her career. She's so happy she could cry. And she's probably wishing that her mom was there to see it. That same year, Rita also wins a national quarter horse title in Texas. And now she doesn't just want more ribbons and trophies, she seems to crave them. She set her sights on one prize in particular, the leading owner award. Winning it is like being the valedictorian of the horse show. But to get it, she'll need more horses. Quarter Horses are extreme expensive. A world champion horse can cost as much as $250,000. And that doesn't begin to cover board and care. Even a bargain horse costs thousands of dollars. To expand her stables and get to the top, Rita's going to have to find a lot more money. About five years later, Rita's reviewing Dixon's annual budget in her office at City Hall. It's beige and boring with a U shaped desk and tons of filing cab. It's the early 90s and Rita has taken over as comptroller, which means she controls the purse strings of the entire town. She's been working for the city for two decades and everyone trusts her enough to basically dictate the budget. Here's how Dixon's chief of police later described Rita's role in an interview with NBC.
- [11:38]
Sachi Cole
If you had a question, go to Rita. If you need something, go to Rita. Anytime you have an expenditure of any significance, you need to check through Rita.
- [11:46]
Sarah Hagie
But Rita doesn't just want to be known around City Hall. She wants to be famous and fabulous in the horse world. And if she really wants to compete for world championships, her city employee salary is just not going to cut it. She could ask for a raise, but even that probably wouldn't cover her big aspirations. So she starts to think maybe she could just borrow money from the city. They've got plenty, and they probably wouldn't even notice if some went missing. So Rita opens a new bank account in the city's name. She calls it the Reserve Sewer Capital Development Account. The idea is to make it sound as official and boring as possible so people won't ask questions.
- [12:30]
Sachi Cole
You know what? She's right. Just hearing the name of that bank account is so fucking boring that I don't want to ask any follow up questions about it.
- [12:38]
Sarah Hagie
It's boring. And who knows how much that stuff costs?
- [12:42]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, I guess. Like how much does a sewer cost? Like a billion dollars.
- [12:46]
Sarah Hagie
Well, Rita knows. She creates fake invoices that look like they're for real city projects. She takes tens of thousands of dollars out of the fake city account and puts it into her personal one. Within a year, she steals $181,000. And listen, Sachi, Rita loves horses and definitely wants more. But she decides to treat herself a bit. First, she uses her new money to buy some diamond stud earrings. Then she buys a pontoon boat with a wet bar and a barbecue on board, followed by more earrings. Once Rita gets a taste for luxury, there's no turning back. As the years go by, Rita starts taking more and more from Dixon. By 1993, she's stolen more than $300,000 without anyone noticing. And she really hits her stride. Sachi, I'm about to walk you through the next decade of purchases that Rita makes with the money she steals from Dixon. Are you ready?
- [13:53]
Sachi Cole
Yes. This is the shopping makeover montage that I've always wanted from this show.
- [13:59]
Sarah Hagie
Imagine Julia Roberts in Pretty woman, but for 10 years, and it's a city's money. In 1995, Rita steals 100 grand. And around this time, she buys an entire furniture set for her living room, Versace glasses, and a $3,000 piece of jewelry from the Tracy White Collection. Two years later, she spends $35,000 on a new quarter horse named Two Thumbs Up. She also gets a custom saddle for nearly $7,000 and a golf cart. Then the year after that, she buys a nearly $100,000 mobile home to travel around to all her horse shows. Then she buys a second boat and a Chevy pickup. And in 1999, she spends $125,000 for a horse called Can't Fool Patty. The next year, she spends nearly half a million dollars remodeling her home into a log cabin palace. She builds a pool and an underground garage and doubles the square footage. Sachi, you have to check out this video tour of her Midwestern mansion.
- [15:09]
Sachi Cole
This is such a, like, rich cowboy lady house. Like, the house is lousy with those. Those, like, big brass stars that you always see on people's houses in small towns.
- [15:23]
Sarah Hagie
Yes, it's very Yellowstone.
- [15:26]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, it's very Yellowstone. It's a lot of barrels and oak and leather. It looks expensive.
- [15:32]
Sarah Hagie
Well, after nearly a decade of stealing, Rita really escalates. I don't know what gets into her, but in 2001, she spends another half million on three more horses. It's not clear exactly how many horses Rita's got at this point, but it's enough for her to compete in the biggest horse shows and win at the 2004 Oklahoma City select finals. Rita finally takes home the award she's been coveting for years. She's the newest leading owner. Queen Rita has arrived.
- [16:07]
Sachi Cole
This is a beautiful story about how if you believe in yourself and you work really hard and you steal millions of dollars from your municipality, your dreams can come true.
- [16:17]
Sarah Hagie
The next year, she upgrades to a motorhome worth nearly $2 million. She buys more horses, more cars, and builds a whole ranch. It's got a 20,000 square foot barn, an arena, and stables. A year later, she wins the leading owner award again. She's known all over the country as the undisputed queen of quarter horses. Just like she's dreamt about since she was a kid. And Sachi, it is good to be queen. Just take a look at this picture of her.
- [16:48]
Sachi Cole
Oh, I love photography of, like, zany, drunk white women. And this is, like, top tier. It's Rita wearing a nice little sweater set, but she's also wearing, like, a party city masquerade over her eyes. And then also a sign that says, it's good to be queen. And you know, she thought that was so clever.
- [17:13]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. She is on top of the world in this photo, Rita is living it up, and at the same time, she's kind of rubbing the scam in everyone's face. I mean, just listen to some of the names of her horses she scores. I'm money, too. I found a penny. Good. I will be. And careful who you invite.
- [17:34]
Sachi Cole
Why don't people give horses normal names? Like, dogs are out here being called like Chester and Jake. And this horse is called, like, suck my butt. I'm stealing money from the city.
- [17:45]
Sarah Hagie
Well, I guess if it costs that much money, you want to maximize the name you could give it.
- [17:50]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, you know what? If a piece of livestock cost me, like, $10,000, I probably also couldn't be.
- [17:57]
Sarah Hagie
Like, come on, Steve, get on the. Well, by 2006, Rita's been siphoning money from the city for 15 years, and she's stolen almost $26 million. And meanwhile, the city of Dixon is suffering. They've had to make some intense cuts. They've abandoned projects to replace traffic lights and add more wheelchair ramps. They've also slashed the budgets of the fire and police departments. But no matter what they do, they keep coming up short. And even though Rita's balling out at horse shows around the country, she keeps a low profile in town. So it seems like no one connects Dixon's deflated budget with Rita's over the top lifestyle. A few people wonder how she's able to afford her growing herd of horses. But nobody wants to pry. Rita's gotten away with it for so long, she probably figures she'll keep stealing until she retires. But a mix up at the office will finally threaten to knock her off her high horse. All right, let's talk about treating yourself. We all deserve something nice, right? But here's the thing. Luxury doesn't have to mean emptying your bank account. That's where Quince comes in.
- [19:14]
Sachi Cole
Yep, you can score a genuine Mongolian cashmere sweater for just $50. And they've got everything from washable silk tops to 14 karat gold jewelry that won't turn your skin green.
- [19:24]
Sarah Hagie
Here's what makes Quince different They're giving you the good stuff at 50 to 80% less than you'd pay elsewhere. How they skip the retail markup by working directly with the same factories as similar brands.
- [19:35]
Sachi Cole
I've bought so much stuff from quints and I bought a lot of stuff from my mom who is extremely picky and she has been living in all of the cotton sweatpants and sweatshirts and I have been going out in all of the Tencel jersey dresses. I look very good in them.
- [19:50]
Sarah Hagie
Sarah yeah, you are a Quince girly through and through.
- [19:54]
Sachi Cole
It's true.
- [19:54]
Sarah Hagie
Give yourself the luxury you deserve with quince. Go to quince.com scanpod for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.
- [20:03]
Sachi Cole
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- [20:19]
Sarah Hagie
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- [20:28]
Sachi Cole
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- [20:39]
Sarah Hagie
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- [20:49]
Sachi Cole
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- [21:00]
Sarah Hagie
Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA members. FDIC Spot Me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Fees apply at out of network ATMs. MyPay eligibility requirements apply. Credit limits range 20 to $500. $2 fee applies to get funds instantly. Chime checking account required. Go to Chime.com disclosures for details. I feel like a legend. In April 2009, the Dixon City Council is getting together for a budget meeting. Dixon's mayor sits at the head of an elevated semicircle desk. There's a framed photo of Ronald Reagan on the wall behind him. The country is still reeling from the financial crisis, and the city of Dixon is suffering. At this point, Dixon is more than a million dollars in debt. Things are so bad that they've considered taking out massive loans, but that's more of a stopgap than anything. They need to do something to fix this now. At one point in the budget meeting, Dickson's finance commissioner takes a microphone. His name is Roy Bridgman. He's in his late 60s and bald, with thin translucent glasses. He tells a room that they're looking at potential layoffs and cuts to work hours, benefits, and city services. Roy turns to Rita. He's known her almost her whole life. He was actually her high school teacher. And now he needs her help getting the city out of this mess. The truth is, the city would be fine if Rita stopped stealing. Because by this point, nearly two decades into her con, she's stolen more than $40 million from the city's accounts. But of course, Rita can't admit that. Instead, she probably repeats the same bogus explanation she's been giving for years. That the state of Illinois is withholding loan payments or is too slow to send them because of the recession. Rita says they just have to keep making more cuts. And because everyone trusts her so much, they take her word for it. They brainstorm ways to make up for their debt. They start by cutting $38,000 worth of ambulances, equipment and training from the city's emergency vehicle fund. But Roy says he'll need to cut a lot more. And he says each department should get their recommended cuts to Rita.
- [23:30]
Sachi Cole
Oh, gross.
- [23:31]
Sarah Hagie
I know. And meanwhile, Rita's still bawling out and apparent she feels no guilt about it. While her colleagues are talking about budget cuts, she wires more than $100,000 to herself to buy a two bedroom Mediterranean style house in Florida. She remodels it, orders custom furniture, and even adds an elevator. Then she spends more than $250,000 for a horse trailer. A few months later, she buys a Ford Thunderbird and a Chevy Silverado. So she has about a dozen cars now, and that's not counting the tractors, trailers and boats. But of course, the horses are really the main event. And in September, Rita buys a new one named Pizzazzi lady for a whopping quarter million dollars.
- [24:23]
Sachi Cole
Do you think that horse is depressed because the horse is named Pizzazzi Lady?
- [24:27]
Sarah Hagie
I feel like if the horse knew its name was Pazazzi lady and how much it was worth, it would probably like Have a mental breakdown.
- [24:34]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, exactly. Like, just shoot me. It's time. I don't want to be known as Pizzazzi Lady. My name is Denise.
- [24:43]
Sarah Hagie
Rita's at the top of the horse world, racking up wins left, right, and center. If there were ever a time to celebrate, it's now. And let me tell you, the only thing Rita seems to love more than spending money on horses is an excuse to throw an extravagant party. A few months later, in January 2010, a young woman named Dakota Diamond Griffith walks along the pier in Venice Beach, Florida. She's got white blonde hair and heavy eye makeup, and she's a bit of a rodeo queen. Dakota is a teenager, but she's on her way to the birthday bash for a much older friend, Rita crundwell. Rita's turning 56. 7, and she's throwing a party at a restaurant called Sharkey's. The drinks are flowing, and the music is blasting. Dakota mingles, waiting for the woman of the hour to arrive. When Rita eventually shows up, she's wearing a stunning white coat with a plush fur collar, and her massive silver rings dazzle. From across the room, Dakota rushes to get a picture with the birthday girl. Sashi, you gotta describe this photo.
- [25:55]
Sachi Cole
Rita's in a. In quite the fur coat, I have to say, with several large diamond rings on her fingers. And our friend Dakota diamond is wearing a black motor jacket and leopard print and a headband and a lot of black eyeshadow. I love this. I want to go to this party.
- [26:17]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah. They look like they're ready to party. And Rita looks good.
- [26:21]
Sachi Cole
Rita looked great.
- [26:22]
Sarah Hagie
Fur coat in Florida.
- [26:23]
Sachi Cole
Interesting choice.
- [26:25]
Sarah Hagie
Well, that night, Dakota writes all about the party for a blog called Go Horse Show. It's a site where she posts breathless updates from every equestrian event she attends. Her readers love hearing about Rita, and thankfully, it's not long before Dakota has more material. That same week, she goes to another one of Rita's parties, this time at a Florida horse show. Rita pulls up to the show in her $2 million RV. Sachi, take a look.
- [26:55]
Sachi Cole
All right. I opened these photos thinking that I would have a pretty good sense of what the inside of an RV would look like, but this straight up looks like a yacht. Like, everything is in white leather, and there's huge TVs on the walls. And the bathrooms are really glamorous. The lighting is amazing.
- [27:11]
Sarah Hagie
It's crazy to imagine that on the road with, like, all that.
- [27:16]
Sachi Cole
It's like driving a boat.
- [27:17]
Sarah Hagie
Well, obviously, we know by now the RV is not the only over the top thing About Rita. When owners and breeders go to horse shows, they generally set up booths to create hangout spaces and display their trophies. But Rita, she doesn't just set up some folding tables. She builds a replica log cabin complete with a huge trophy wall and a bartender making free cocktails. And of course, Rita's always dressed to the nines at these shows. She usually has a different bedazzled outfit for every event. But some of her competitors are starting to question where all her money comes from. They know exactly how much she earns from each competition. On a good weekend, it could be around $40,000, which is a lot, but nowhere near enough to cover her wardrobe and that multimillion dollar rv. There are rumors that Rita had an older boyfriend who died and left her all his money. Or that she got a huge payout from Campbell's Soup stock. Either way, Rita throws incredible parties. And as long as the cocktails are flowing, people don't ask a lot of questions. But unfortunately for Rita, the source of her wealth won't stay hidden for much longer. More than a year after Rita's over the top Florida birthday party, Dixon city clerk Kathy Swanson is in her office. Think airport carpet, beige walls, banker's boxes stacked in the corner. Kathy's a sweet middle aged woman who wears a lot of scarves and believes maybe a little too much in her work. Today, she's covering for Rita, who's away at yet another horse show. Rita's actually been out a lot recently. In addition to her four weeks paid time off, she's taken another 12 weeks off to compete in horse shows. She manages a time off by docking her own pay for the missed days. She leaves detailed instructions for Kathy every time she goes to a horse show, so it's easy for Kathy to cover for her. According to Rita's notes, when Kathy needs bank records for her reports, she's supposed to call and specify the exact accounts she wants details for. Rita's always been very adamant about that. But on this particular day, Kathy's in a hurry, so she just asks the bank to send her everything. She probably figures, what's the difference? Turns out there's a big difference. One statement in particular catches Kathy's eye. It's the fake account, and she's never seen it before. She starts pouring over the records and I imagine her eyes becoming saucers. She recalls this moment later at Brace Yourself Sachi, a fraud conference.
- [30:03]
Sachi Cole
My first initial instinct was that she was selling some of her prize horses and shielding the money from the IRS by opening up an account under the city of Dixon's name. So I did what any scared person would do. I folded it and took it down to my car and hid it in my car for three days. It is honestly such a comfort to know that this woman, who I think is probably extremely capable and, you know, at no fault to her own, I understand it completely why she did that. But when she realizes that there's fraud, her instinct is to do what I do. When I get like, any mail from any organization I don't want to give money to is to just be like, okay, received. And this will go in my butt until I'm emotionally prepared to deal with it.
- [30:52]
Sarah Hagie
Yes. And eventually Kathy goes to Mayor Jim Burke and confesses what she found. Jim's in his 70s, with white hair and rimless glasses. He's a warm, kind soul. He's known Rita since she was a child. Her childhood baseball team once threw a party in his backyard pool. He's always trusted her and doesn't want to believe what Kathy's telling him. But when Jim looks at the previous month statements, he can clearly see that rita funneled roughly $1 million into her fake fund. He feels like he has no choice but to bring this to the authorities. Jim later says in a documentary called all the Queen's Horses.
- [31:34]
Sachi Cole
I called the FBI. I said, I think there's a cancer.
- [31:38]
Sarah Hagie
In city hall, but I need to talk with somebody.
- [31:41]
Sachi Cole
And I took the bank statement along.
- [31:44]
Sarah Hagie
When the FBI starts poking around, they realize this is bigger than even Kathy and Jim thought. It turns out rita stole around $53 million.
- [31:56]
Sachi Cole
That is an exceptional amount of money for what sounds like a pretty small town.
- [32:00]
Sarah Hagie
It's so much money that it's like. It's insane to think this all started because of horses.
- [32:08]
Sachi Cole
Yeah.
- [32:09]
Sarah Hagie
The feds want their case against Rita to be airtight, so they tell Jim and Kathy to stay quiet. The pair have to sit with what they know for five whole months while the FBI investigates. It must have been excruciating, because by the time the FBI investigation is wrapping up, Dixon is on the brink of collapse. In a letter to department heads, one of the city's commissioners writes, it's borderline catastrophic. We have absolutely no money. So budget numbers don't really matter at this time. Unless something is absolutely essential to today or tomorrow's operation, we need to hold off on any and all purchases. But this isn't just some small town fraud. It is the biggest case of municipal embezzlement in U.S. history. And the FBI will be damned if they let Rita slip through Their fingers. Rita thinks Apr 17, 2012 is just another morning at city Hall. But when she gets called into the mayor's wood paneled office, she comes face to face with three suited FBI agents. Inside, Rita's got to be freaking out, but on the outside, she's cool as a cucumber. She keeps her cheery smile plastered across her face and asks how she can help. She's probably thinking she can talk her way out of this. But then the lead FBI agent lays the cards on the table. He knows about the fake account Rita set up. And his question isn't if she stole money from Dixon, it's why. And just like that, she crumbles. She admits to using city funds for her own personal gain. The FBI agents interview her for more than an hour. Then they slap a pair of handcuffs on her and march her out the back of the building. Rita's arrest. It's big news.
- [34:09]
Sachi Cole
A longtime, trusted city employee is accused of diverting more than $30 million from city coffers. Rita Cronwell, busted by the feds, now.
- [34:18]
Sarah Hagie
Charged with wire fraud. But Rita's not done yet. Sure, she confessed in the mayor's office, but after she's brought down to police headquarters, Rita changes her story and pleads not guilty. She's ready for one last rodeo. It's September of 2012, five months after Rita's arrest. The government is holding an auction at her ranch in Dixon, and nearly 2,000 people show up. Some are there to spend serious money. Others just want to see what all the fuss is about. It smells like hay and horseshit mixed with the sweet scent of funnel cakes wafting over from the stands. Normally, the government has to wait for someone to be convicted before they can sell their stuff. But the feds are dealing with 400 living, breathing quarter horses. It costs $200,000 a month just to take care of them. Rita must be devastated, but she has to know she doesn't have a choice. If Rita's found guilty, the money will go back to the city of Dixon. If she's innocent, well, then she'll get her money back. The bidding opens with her prized horse. Good. I will be an eight year old base stallion who's won three championships. He's expected to sell for anywhere between half a million and a million dollars. The auctioneer pumps up the crowd as they bring him out.
- [35:49]
Sachi Cole
Absolutely gorgeous.
- [35:50]
Sarah Hagie
And I've been doing this for 30 years and I can tell you I've.
- [35:54]
Sachi Cole
Never started a horse sale with one.
- [35:55]
Sarah Hagie
As good as this one. Good I will Be sells for Three quarters of a million dollars. After that, guess what they auction off next.
- [36:04]
Sachi Cole
I'm afraid to guess. I would like you to just tell me.
- [36:08]
Sarah Hagie
Okay, well, you are never going to guess this. It's 95 tubes of this horse's semen. Oh, he's a proven champion with quality je so other breeders are dying to get a piece of him. The tubes sell for over $12,000.
- [36:24]
Sachi Cole
I have questions about the person whose job it was to jerk this horse off.
- [36:28]
Sarah Hagie
Let's not Google that. The auctioneer rattles off bids for the remaining horses, but none reach good I will be prices. Remember Pizzazzi lady, who Rita bought for a quarter of a million dollars? She sells for only $128,000. Another horse named she Scores only brings in $71,000, even though Rita spent $200,000 to buy her. And it's not just horses the feds are auctioning off. They put everything up for sale at a discount. A saddle for 1850, a horse trailer for $69,000, fake tails for $300. Even Rita's jewelry collection is up for sale, including this diamond encrusted SpongeBob SquarePants pendant.
- [37:17]
Sachi Cole
You know, Rita obviously deserves some sort of punishment for her crimes here. The person who purchases a secondhand diamond encrusted SpongeBob SquarePants pendant should have to live under the jail.
- [37:34]
Sarah Hagie
Well, in total, the two day auction brings in nearly $5 million. But that's just a fraction of what Rita stole from Dixon. The feds are going to have to sell a lot more to make up for everything she embezzled. And in the meantime, they've still got to prove that she's guilty. Luckily for them, Rita's always kept meticulous records. After searching her house, marshals find boxes of paperwork in her basement crawl space detailing every single illegal transaction she made. She literally has the receipts to incriminate herself. The walls are closing in around Rita. It's time for her to decide if she's gonna fight till the bitter end or if it's time to fess up. You know that feeling when you're staring at your phone, debating ordering takeout for the third time this week? Knowing you should be eating healthier, but you just don't have the time or energy to figure it all out?
- [38:35]
Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
To explore our fearless producer Sarah Eney was using Hungryroot and she has been raving about the recipes from the Cajun Salmon to the Enchiladas. I am just happy that she's finally eating a sufficient number of calories for somebody who keeps the show afloat.
- [39:03]
Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
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Sarah Hagie
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Sachi Cole
And with 24.
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Sarah Hagie
7 customer service, you'll never feel alone on your path to better health. Get started with Mochi Health today. Take the free quiz@joinmochi.com and use code AUDIO40 at checkout for $40 off your first month of membership. That's join mochi.com with promo code AUDIO40. I feel like a legend. Two months after the auction in November of 2012, Rita pleads guilty to stealing $53 million from the city of Dixon. At her sentencing hearing, the lead FBI agent walks a judge through Rita's scam. Various city employees explain how she pushed for cuts during budget meetings, all while she stole right from under their noses. Mayor Jim Burke is furious. Sachi, can you read a part of his statement?
- [40:57]
Sachi Cole
He says Rita Crundwell saw firsthand the penalty the city was paying for financing her high flying 20 plus years superego lifestyle. She was motivated by trophies and horses. Or in the words of Shakespeare's tragedy of King Richard iii, a horse.
- [41:15]
Sarah Hagie
A horse.
- [41:16]
Sachi Cole
A kingdom for a horse. Dang Jim.
- [41:19]
Sarah Hagie
Jim fucked her up.
- [41:21]
Sachi Cole
Jim's right.
- [41:23]
Sarah Hagie
Right? And Kathy's in the courtroom too. She waits through the whole hearing until the judge gives Rita an opportunity to speak. Kathy is hoping she'll finally get some closure and that Rita will apologize to the city of Dixon. But instead, this is what Kathy later recalls. At a fraud conference, she stood up.
- [41:43]
Sachi Cole
And before they put the handcuffs on her, she turned around and she was crying and she Said, I just want to say to my friends and family how sorry I am.
- [41:52]
Sarah Hagie
And that was it. Well, ultimately, Rita's hopes for a lenient punishment are dashed. The judge sentences her to 19 years and seven months in federal prison, which is just short of the maximum. Meanwhile, the accounting firm that did the city of Dixon's audits also gets dragged into court. Turns out they not only did annual audits on the town, they also did Rita's personal taxes. Rita even used to play on the firm's softball team. The company ends up settling with the city for $35 million. And when Covid hits in 2020, Rita sees a chance to get out early. She writes a nine page handwritten letter applying for compassionate release on the grounds that she's been a model prisoner and has health issues that put her in danger. She doesn't get it. But then a year later, she files an a separate appeal and gets released at the age of 68. She ends up only serving eight years, less than half of her sentence.
- [42:53]
Sachi Cole
Dang. Being a nice white woman in a spongebob squarepants necklace really pays. You get away with anything.
- [43:02]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, and as you can imagine, Dixonites are pissed. She fucked over the town and they're still recovering. It doesn't matter that Rita lost everything. Even after all the auctions, she owes the city millions of dollars. Dixon's current mayor spoke to Eyewitness News about her early release from prison. That's the way a lot of people in the community are taking it. It's a slap in the face. I can steal over $50 million and all I do is trade a little over half a dozen years in jail. Why is that a bad trade?
- [43:34]
Sachi Cole
He is right. I mean, she got away with so much. She got so much money. She had such a incredible lifestyle. And she also punished all these people who lived in Dixon because she was taking money away from from them. He's right. It's not a bad trade.
- [43:51]
Sarah Hagie
It's not a bad trade. She lived it up for 20 plus years and then went to jail for eight years. And now she's free. Also, Rita told a judge years ago that she'd had several offers for books and movies, but she said she wouldn't speak to anyone until she was out of prison. But she's been silenced since her release. Just another small town girl living in a lonely world. Sashi, now that we've discussed the final boss of Horse Girls, I just. I need to know how you feel about all this.
- [44:27]
Sachi Cole
What a weird, weird way to scam your way into, like, the Prestigious world of horsies.
- [44:35]
Sarah Hagie
And also the biggest scam of its kind in US History. That's insane.
- [44:44]
Sachi Cole
I believe it. She stole so much money and she bought such ugly things with it.
- [44:50]
Sarah Hagie
It's clear she probably didn't feel that bad. But do you think there was any part of her that was like, oh, I'm gonna get caught eventually. May as well just live it up as much as I can.
- [45:02]
Sachi Cole
Yeah, I think she was so arrogant about it. I mean, I think, like, you know, to leave for 12 weeks and to leave somebody else in charge and to leave them instructions is asking for trouble. Because you're saying to that person, I'm gonna put you in the position of being able to find out what I've been doing this whole time. She let that woman in her office. She gave her access to all the files. She told her how to get those documents. There is an arrogance tied in a lot of scams, broadly speaking. And I don't think a lot of people do bad things with the belief that I'm gonna get in trouble anyway, so I should just have a good time. I think maybe what she thought was she could do this until she was 70, you know, and then could sort of retire from the active participation of it and just enjoy the wealth that she did not earn.
- [45:50]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, I mean, she knew exactly what she was doing in the sense that she knew this town so well. She knew how the townspeople worked. Like, she knew exactly how to manipulate everyone.
- [46:01]
Sachi Cole
She was also trading off of the fact that all of the who would have been or should have been suspicious knew her since she was a little kid. So, you know, her former high school teacher is like, hey, these balances don't make sense. Can you help me? And he's not gonna treat her with suspicion. He's known her since she was 15. The mayor has known her since she was a little kid as well. So all of the people who would sort of be tasked with looking at the office and saying, like, who here might be making some huge mistakes at best and at worst is ripping us. No one's looking at her for that. And, you know, she used the money to buy success. So from the outside, she looks like a successful, well dressed, respectful member of the community who works in government. Why would they look to her?
- [46:51]
Sarah Hagie
I will say the one part that doesn't quite make sense is that, like, even though she was mostly flashy when she went off for these events and competitions, like, in her hometown, she still, like, remodeled her whole home. Like, they still saw her with all these cars and boats. So I, I just wonder how good she was, I guess, at hiding it from everyone else. Like, sure, she wasn't wearing fur to the office, but also I kind of.
- [47:17]
Sachi Cole
Think she was probably wearing fur to the office. Because also I think the other thing is people fill in the blanks when they meet someone like Rita. Like, if you meet someone who's that rich and you don't really understand why, your logical brain will say, oh, well, she had a wealthy ex husband who died, or she comes from some sort of money, or all this money is from the horses. You're not gonna think like this person's defrauding $53 million over the course of 20 years in order to wear a.
- [47:48]
Sarah Hagie
Fur coat to work.
- [47:50]
Sachi Cole
Normal people who don't commit these kinds of crimes don't think this way, so they fill in those gaps of information.
- [47:57]
Sarah Hagie
Yeah, that's very fair. I mean, it is just so crazy that her job was just being like, I'm an accountant basically, and there's this sewer account that I'm putting money in. Honestly, it is a very good scam.
- [48:14]
Sachi Cole
It's a good scam in that it is so stupid and I will never sleep again thinking about who purchased a secondhand SpongeBob SquarePants necklace. If you like Scamplancers, you can listen to every episode early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus and the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey@wondry.com survey.
- [48:52]
Sarah Hagie
This is the Quarter Horse Queen. I'm Sarah Hagie.
- [48:56]
Sachi Cole
And I'm Sachi Cole. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us@scamfluencersoundry.com the idea for this story actually came to us from a listener of the show who grew up in the quarter horse world. Thanks, Jessica. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were Chicago Magazine's Rita Crundwell and the Dixon embezzlement by Brian Smith and Gravitas Ventures documentary All the Queen's Horses.
- [49:24]
Sarah Hagie
Alex Burns wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Hagie. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi. Our story editor and producer is Sarah Enny. Our story editors are Alison Weintraub and Eric Thurm. Sound design is by Sam Ada. Fact checking by Gabrielle Jolle. Additional audio assistance provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For Frison Sync. Our managing producer is Matt Gant and our senior managing producer is Tanja Thigpen. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock. Kate Young and Olivia Richard are our series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Blume. Our executive producers are Jeanine Cornello, Stephanie Jens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louie. For Wondery Hey, I'm Cassie Depechel, the host of Wondery's podcast Against the Odds. In our next season, I'm telling the story of four American rock climbers who were kidnapped by rebel militants in the remote mountains of Kyrgyzstan. The group was taken at gunpoint and forced to hike through brutal terrain under the COVID of night to avoid detection by the Kyrgyz army. With little to no food or water provided by their captors, the young climbing team had to struggle through severe dehydration and hunger. Finally, they realized they would have to fight for their lives to escape. It's a thrilling story of survival in the face of violence and terror and doing whatever it takes to make it home alive.
- [51:22]
Sachi Cole
Follow against the Odds on the Wondery.
- [51:24]
Sarah Hagie
App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge the entire season ad free right now only on Wondery Plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify Today.