Comptroller in Dixon accused of stealing millions

A comptroller in Dixon has charged with stealing more than $3.2 million in public funds in just a matter of months.

A federal criminal complaint also accuses Rita Crundwell of misappropriating more than $30 million since 2006 to finance a lavish lifestyle, including operating a horse farm.

FBI agents searching her homes in Illinois and Wisconsin on Tuesday seized seven trucks and trailers, a $2.1 million motor home and a Ford Thunderbird convertible. They say all were allegedly bought with illegal proceeds. Authorities also seized the contents of two bank accounts she controlled.

The arrest was announced by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and the head of Chicago’s FBI office, Robert Grant.

Crundwell has been Dixon comptroller since the early 1980s.