American Greed s08e03 The Cunning Cowgirl Crook Dollars for Dumps.eng Movie Subtitles

1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,640 In this episode of American Greed, ride them, cowgirl. 2 00:00:08,140 --> 00:00:13,179 Rita Cronwell appears to be a humble small -town civil servant, which is 3 00:00:13,180 --> 00:00:17,599 a double life as a world champion horse breeder. It's a deception that comes at 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:18,650 a huge price. 5 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:23,259 Everything that I've learned about showing horses, you must either be 6 00:00:23,260 --> 00:00:26,020 independently wealthy or you're stealing the money. 7 00:00:26,260 --> 00:00:30,940 When this cunning comptroller diverts more than $53 million of Dixon, 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:32,600 money into her horse empire, 9 00:00:33,310 --> 00:00:35,750 She leaves a city on the verge of collapse. 10 00:00:35,751 --> 00:00:39,869 People are going to have to lose their jobs to balance this budget. For what? A 11 00:00:39,870 --> 00:00:41,310 divorce? For a trophy? 12 00:00:41,570 --> 00:00:46,849 Are you kidding me? And later, Staten Island native Joe Mazzella wants to help 13 00:00:46,850 --> 00:00:50,509 friends and neighbors with the promise of using their money to turn distressed 14 00:00:50,510 --> 00:00:53,970 properties into highly profitable residential oases. 15 00:00:54,390 --> 00:00:55,440 Joe's pitches. 16 00:00:55,441 --> 00:00:59,039 We're just like you going out and having a beer with a friend. He lures in 17 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,700 retirees, policemen, firemen, and even members of the deaf community. 18 00:01:04,099 --> 00:01:09,419 But this opportunity is a $14 million scam, where his clients' savings and 19 00:01:09,420 --> 00:01:11,700 end up as gutted as his junk properties. 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:13,880 I was calling him every single day. 21 00:01:14,260 --> 00:01:18,280 Where's my money? Where's my money? Where's my money? And there was no 22 00:01:18,380 --> 00:01:19,430 Nothing came. 23 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,999 In the fall of 2011, as autumn leaves begin to warm the landscape of the 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,500 picturesque town of Dixon, Illinois, a cold reality is taking hold. 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,139 The city was drowning in debt. There were streets that went unpaved. There 26 00:01:48,140 --> 00:01:53,779 sidewalks that went, you know, unfixed because the city, as they believed, had 27 00:01:53,780 --> 00:01:56,360 no money to take care of those sorts of things. 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:02,059 Dixon Mayor Jim Burke hears the message of distress year after year from the 29 00:02:02,060 --> 00:02:06,700 city official pulling Dixon's purse strings, Comptroller Rita Cronwell. 30 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:13,819 She would present the figures for the annual budget workshop, which 31 00:02:13,820 --> 00:02:18,360 showed that it was going to be nip and tuck because of the financial situation. 32 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,159 But this fall, Cronwell is taking vacation time to prepare for a quarter 33 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:25,210 exhibition. 34 00:02:25,230 --> 00:02:29,269 She's hoping to add to her already extensive collection of trophies as a 35 00:02:29,270 --> 00:02:32,030 champion show horse breeder and exhibitor. 36 00:02:32,350 --> 00:02:37,029 Back in Dixon, however, the woman filling in for Cronwell goes through the 37 00:02:37,030 --> 00:02:41,729 city's financials and uncovers a mysterious bank account under Cronwell's 38 00:02:41,730 --> 00:02:42,780 control. 39 00:02:42,830 --> 00:02:49,589 In September alone, she finds more than $750 ,000 are inexplicably siphoned 40 00:02:49,590 --> 00:02:52,510 into that strange account from the city's coffers. 41 00:02:52,830 --> 00:02:54,190 She alerts the mayor. 42 00:02:55,040 --> 00:03:01,819 Our city clerk brought a bank statement to me, and she 43 00:03:01,820 --> 00:03:03,990 said, I cannot connect this with anything. 44 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:09,559 I started to get sick to my stomach because I realized this was a big ripoff 45 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:10,399 going on. 46 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,979 Six months later, Mayor Berg sits in front of the citizens of Dixon and 47 00:03:14,980 --> 00:03:19,679 from media outlets across the country to explain what authorities believe may be 48 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,200 the biggest municipal fraud in U .S. history. 49 00:03:22,201 --> 00:03:26,709 First of all, I'd like to thank the FBI for their comprehensive response to our 50 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:30,170 request for a criminal investigation into this matter. 51 00:03:30,690 --> 00:03:35,249 This is a traumatic, upsetting event that the citizens and council are 52 00:03:35,250 --> 00:03:40,009 experiencing. Traumatic and upsetting are not words typically used in 53 00:03:40,010 --> 00:03:41,750 association with Dixon, Illinois. 54 00:03:42,390 --> 00:03:47,889 U .S. Marshal Jason Waddillo is dispatched to Dixon just days after 55 00:03:47,890 --> 00:03:50,450 Burke's press conference in the spring of 2012. 56 00:03:51,950 --> 00:03:58,769 The city was the size of 15 ,000, 16 ,000 people, good, hardworking farmers, 57 00:03:58,770 --> 00:04:02,889 lot of farmers in the community. You know, your typical heartland of America 58 00:04:02,890 --> 00:04:03,940 city. 59 00:04:04,550 --> 00:04:09,929 Rita Cronwell has worked in Dixon City Hall since 1970, beginning as an eager 60 00:04:09,930 --> 00:04:14,890 high schooler and eventually making her way up to city comptroller in 1983. 61 00:04:14,891 --> 00:04:18,919 My name is Dan Langloss. I'm the chief of police in the city of Dixon. By the 62 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:23,459 time Dan Langloss becomes the Dixon chief of police in 2008, Cronwell has 63 00:04:23,460 --> 00:04:27,220 the trusted guardian of the city's finances for 25 years. 64 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,340 She was very highly regarded, very well respected. 65 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:34,779 If you had a question, go to Rita. If you need something, go to Rita. And 66 00:04:34,780 --> 00:04:38,219 everybody always looked at her that she could fix any problem or just take care 67 00:04:38,220 --> 00:04:39,900 of anything that needed to be done. 68 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:45,999 If Cronwell's dependability is exhibited in her work, her passion is on display 69 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,680 in another arena, showing quarter horses at exhibitions nationwide. 70 00:04:51,980 --> 00:04:56,639 Marsha Freeman breaks and trains horses near Cronwell's home in Illinois and 71 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,540 remembers Cronwell's early years in the industry in the mid-'80s. 72 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,999 At that point, I think she was just like the regular horse person showing horses 73 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,340 as a hobby, which would involve moving in on a Thursday, showing horses Friday, 74 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,059 Saturday, Sunday, and returning back home and going back to a normal job and 75 00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:15,110 work week. 76 00:05:15,500 --> 00:05:20,399 But Cronwell takes this more seriously than a weekend hobby. In 1990, she 77 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,020 her own horse breeding business named R .C. Quarter Horses, LLC. 78 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:26,100 There's only one problem. 79 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,440 Showing horses is an expensive hobby, so you're... 80 00:05:29,950 --> 00:05:33,200 You're going to need to have some startup cash to do it correctly. 81 00:05:33,790 --> 00:05:38,009 With her humble background, Cronwell doesn't have enough money to support the 82 00:05:38,010 --> 00:05:42,949 boarding, medical care, transportation, and trainers necessary for a world 83 00:05:42,950 --> 00:05:44,210 -class breeding program. 84 00:05:44,650 --> 00:05:50,249 But as Dixon's comptroller, large amounts of cash pass through her hands 85 00:05:50,250 --> 00:05:56,030 day. According to Assistant U .S. Attorney Joe Peterson, on December 18, 86 00:05:56,940 --> 00:06:01,240 Cronwell crosses a line that will change her life and the city of Dixon forever. 87 00:06:01,540 --> 00:06:06,259 She opened a secret bank account in the city's name, and only she has control of 88 00:06:06,260 --> 00:06:12,779 it. She named it the RSCDA account, which stood for some acronym involving a 89 00:06:12,780 --> 00:06:18,119 sewer, reserve sewer account, but it really was not a legitimate city account 90 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,800 all. Because Cronwell has full authority to write checks on the city's behalf, 91 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,720 it's easy for her to filter government money into the new account. 92 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:33,119 She was creating fictitious invoices, purportedly representing different 93 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:38,139 projects that were going on in the city that, in fact, never were going on. And 94 00:06:38,140 --> 00:06:42,659 then she would pay the bills. She would pay the invoices and then deposit those 95 00:06:42,660 --> 00:06:44,520 checks into the secret bank account. 96 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,540 As the FBI will come to learn, with no one else's eyes on the secret account, 97 00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:53,840 Cronwell is free to divert the city's money into her personal business. 98 00:06:54,260 --> 00:06:55,310 And she does. 99 00:06:55,740 --> 00:07:00,420 It has become known as the single largest municipal fraud in U .S. 100 00:07:00,830 --> 00:07:06,509 When American Greed returns, Rita Cronwell uses Dixon's money to become a 101 00:07:06,510...