Coram Deo ~

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My Review of ALL THE QUEEN’S HORSES

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All the Queen’s Horses, not-rated
****

All the Queen’s Horses is a well-made documentary about the largest municipal fraud ever committed in the U.S. It is also a warning to businesses, non-profits and churches that the same could happen to them, and it probably already is, just on a smaller scale. A statistic they posted was that 50-70% of business failure is due to fraud.  This is the first film directed by Kelly Richmond Pope. Pope is an associate professor in the School of Accountancy and MIS at DePaul University.
Dixon, Illinois is less than two hours west of Chicago. It is the hometown of President Ronald Reagan, and has a population of just over 16,000. In the film, Dixon appears to be a very pleasant small town. In 2011, Dixon City Clerk Kathe Swanson noticed some suspicious and very large dollar amount entries on some bank statements. Swanson had reported to Rita Crundwell, the town’s Treasurer and Comptroller, for twenty years. Swanson reported her concerns to Mayor Jim Burke, who in turn notified the FBI. The investigation took a full six months before Crundwell was arrested and charged with embezzling a staggering $53.7 million over a period of 20 years.
Over the years Crundwell had established a reputation as one of the world’s leading breeders of quarter horses. She used that business to launder significant amounts of money. At the same time, Crundwell laid off city employees and cut essential city services all the while funding her lifestyle. As she built a lavish lifestyle, the city suffered and went into significant debt.
Pope uses interviews with townspeople, those who worked with Crundwell, members of the FBI, etc., to tell the story. We might wonder how this fraud could have taken place in such a small community. Pope uses simple, at times humorous, and easy to understand graphics to explain how Crundwell, who was trusted in the community, could get away with this over 20 years without being caught.
The film addresses who should have been responsible for detecting the fraud in Dixon. Should it have been the mayor, the city council, the people of Dixon, the city’s auditors, the bank the city used, etc.?
As the film shows, the city had little or no financial controls. Virtually everything pertaining to the city’s finances was controlled by Crundwell. My wife is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), just as Kelly Richmond Pope is. She has handled the finances for our church, a local business and a non-profit. For years I have heard her stress the importance of good financial internal controls. The result of a lack of financial controls in the city of Dixon is sadly demonstrated in this film.
The city of Dixon filed a suit against their auditors and bank, winning a total of $40 million, in addition to selling Crundwell’s property. Of that amount however, a significant amount of the award went to the attorneys and for debt payment. The remaining amount went to the city’s infrastructure. We are told that the city’s new finance director has implemented good financial controls.
The film stresses that this type of greed and fraud is prevalent in organizations. It is a warning to all that good accountability and oversight need to be in place.  As Ronald Reagan said, “trust but verify”.
Rita Crundwell declined to be interviewed for the film. She was found guilty and sentenced to 19 years and 7 months, and will be released in 2030, at which time she will be 82 years old.

Author: Bill Pence

I’m Bill Pence – married to my best friend Tammy, a graduate of Covenant Seminary, St. Louis Cardinals fan, formerly a manager at a Fortune 50 organization, and in leadership at my local church. I am a life-long learner and have a passion to help people develop, and to use their strengths to their fullest potential. I am an INTJ on Myers-Briggs, 3 on the Enneagram, my top five Strengthsfinder themes are: Belief, Responsibility, Learner, Harmony, and Achiever, and my two StandOut strength roles are Creator and Equalizer. My favorite book is the Bible, with Romans my favorite book of the Bible, and Colossians 3:23 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 being my favorite verses. Some of my other favorite books are The Holiness of God and Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul, and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. I enjoy music in a variety of genres, including modern hymns, Christian hip-hop and classic rock. My book Called to Lead: Living and Leading for Jesus in the Workplace and Tammy’s book Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold are available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon. amazon.com/author/billpence amazon.com/author/tammypence

One thought on “My Review of ALL THE QUEEN’S HORSES

  1. I had wondered if the town of Dixon had been able to get back some of the money that had been stolen from them.

    Hope to see the movie.

    I once served on the financial team for my church in Canada. I was impressed by all the safe guards we had in place for accountability and oversight. Sadly, not all churches or businesses do this.

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