Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council and can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.
When FBI agents led a Dixon, Illinois, official out of city hall in handcuffs and the charges against her became public, the most often asked question was “How?”
How did City Comptroller Rita Crundwell manage to embezzle an astounding $54 million from the northwest Illinois community of 15,700 people before she was finally detected?
How did city officials and an outside CPA auditing firm fail to get even a whiff of her brazen scheme for the 22 years she robbed the city treasury?
Crundwell was arrested in 2012. Her case is old news now. But Iowans should have more than idle curiosity in her crime.
Hers is a textbook case of why it is important to have independent outside auditors and investigators with the legal tools and the expertise to dig into potential “paper” crimes or misconduct involving government employees.
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