Dixon to get $40 Million back following Rita Crundwell scandal

By Ulysses Arn - 

For some 20 years Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell stole from the city to the tune of over $50 million.  Earlier this year Crundwell pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time in federal prison.

Following the scandal that broke in the spring of 2012, the city of Dixon looked to sue its bank and its auditors for not detecting Crundwell's theft of city funds. Earlier this week the city reached a settlement agreement with its bank and auditors for $40 million.

Sauk Valley Media has more:

Mayor Jim Burke said the amount of the settlement speaks for itself.

The city of Dixon reached a $40 million out-of-court settlement with its former auditors and Fifth Third Bank, who the city said were to blame for former Comptroller Rita Crundwell’s theft of nearly $54 million in the past 2 decades.

The agreement was reached Saturday following a 17-hour session in Chicago, Burke said.

The mayor was speaking about vindication for a City Council that has taken its fair share of blame for the theft, when he said the amount speaks for itself.

Of the $40 million, $35.15 million was paid by CliftonLarsonAllen, the city’s auditor until 2005, $3.85 million by Fifth Third Bank, which handled the city’s checking accounts, and $1 million by Janis Card and Associates of Sterling, which took over the city’s audits in 2005 from Clifton until Crundwell’s arrest.