![]() ![]() Everyone in town knew that Crundwell, 59, who is divorced and has no children, owned and showed horses. The mayor’s thoughts turned to Crundwell’s hobby. As the months passed, he woke often in the night. Agents instructed him to hold his tongue while they investigated. It was Burke who had taken the dubious bank statement to the FBI office in Rockford back in October 2011. Most stunning of all was the identity of the person suspected of masterminding the scheme: Rita Crundwell, a woman whose parents were the kind of humble, hardworking community pillars upon which Dixon’s reputation was built, a woman who had been the town’s comptroller for more than three decades, as trusted and efficient as a church tithe collector. And that was only what the feds had found in their cursory first look at the city’s cooked books. The money was being dumped into a mysterious account and allegedly spent on everything but city business: jewelry, fancy clothes, a custom motor coach, boats, property in Florida, luxury cars, hundreds of the finest horses this side of Amarillo. Tens of millions of dollars had been siphoned from the tiny rural city’s operating budget. ![]() “Sure,” Rita Crundwell answered brightly.įor five long months-ever since Dixon’s city clerk, Kathe Swanson, had stumbled upon a curious bank statement from an even more curious bank account-Burke had been helping the feds unravel an embezzlement scheme so vast and so brazen it seemed almost inconceivable. “Rita, would you mind stepping into my office for a minute?” Let’s bring her in.”īurke reached for the phone and punched in the number for the comptroller. But for the badges tucked into the men’s wallets and the guns holstered on their belts, the gathering might have looked like a few insurance salesmen debating weekend tee times.Īs the small talk petered out, however, a chill settled over the room. They chatted breezily with Jim Burke, the mild-mannered, silver-haired mayor, who smiled and nodded from behind a cluttered desk in his office on the second floor. The three men, in standard-issue FBI suits and ties, arrived at Dixon City Hall just after nine on the morning of Tuesday, April 17. I just rammed together the two firms' revenues, per Accounting Today.It was time. Clifton is one of the most deft box-checking firms out there but it will be tough convince anyone they aren't liable just because they complied with professional standards.ĬPA firm knew about secret bank account ġ Or something. If a judge and/or jury decides that auditors/accountants were grossly negligent despite evidence that shows that they checked all the right boxes, it won't matter. I don't know! Professional standards are great and all, but sometimes in court it doesn't make any difference. If that's the case, shouldn't that get CLA off the hook? Now, if there was "a change in scope" that's a different story but nothing in the article indicates that the former conversation DIDN'T happen or that the latter conversation DID happen. Isn't that interesting, man? If CLA/CG did the "establishing an understanding" then Dixon would have been perfectly aware of what the firm was doing and, more importantly, what they are NOT doing. If the accountant was engaged to perform an audit in accordance with GAAS or was engaged to review the financial statements in accordance with SSARSs, prior to agreeing to change the engagement to a compilation, did the accountant consider (a) the reason given for the client’s request, particularly the implications of a restriction on the scope of the audit or review whether imposed by the client or by circumstances, (b) the additional audit or review effort required to complete the audit or review, and (c) the estimated additional cost to complete the audit or review?
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