published August 8, 2017

All the Queen’s Horses

A true crime documentary about the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history is now on Netflix. The film All The Queen’s Horses looks at how Rita Crundwell stole $53 million from a midwestern town without anyone noticing.

The former American Quarter Horse breeder siphoned millions from the small town of Dixon, IL. It happened during Crundwell’s more than 20-year career as the town’s comptroller. The stolen funds financed Crundwell’s extravagant horse show lifestyle while leaving the town in financial straits.

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The documentary’s filmmaker Kelly Richmond Pope, Ph.D., CPA, is a forensic accounting expert. She began interviewing people immediately after Crundwell’s April 2012 arrest.

Pope says Crundwell knew she had absolute control stemming from no oversight. There were also no checks and balances in place. “Internal controls are critical in any industry.”

For the first time, the whistleblower in the case discusses how the ordeal impacted her life.

Crundwell is serving an almost 20-year federal prison sentence. She still owes Dixon $43 million even after the Feds sold her horses, properties, and everything she owned, including her AQHA trophies, according to one estimate.

Crundwell pays restitution monthly from the money she is paid for working in prison. It adds up to less than $70 monthly.

Pope says Crundwell receives no funds from the project.

The documentary premiered last August.

View Rita Crundwell Case

See Names of Rita Crundwell’s horses