On February 14, 2013, Rita Crundwell, former comptroller for the city of Dixon, IL was sentenced to 19 ½ years in prison for stealing more than $53 million from Dixon. Crundwell's crime went on record as the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. Just as shocking as the amount stolen from this small Illinois town was the fact that Crundwell engaged in her scheme to pillage Dixon for 20 years before being discovered.
Crundwell's fraud shines an unflattering spotlight on the accounting profession and the role of the audit. The relevance of the audit has been in question since the uncovering of massive corporate frauds dating back to Worldcom and Enron. Subsequent to Crundwell's conviction, the city of Dixon sued its auditors, accountants and bank, settling their claim against them for $40 million.
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