Keeping those duties divided can be a challenge for small units of government, experts and officials said. “We try to be proactive in ensuring that we’re following the proper procedures,” Swinford said. Treasurer Jeremy Stuenkel reconciles the accounts, and village manager John Swinford reviews the bills and purchase orders. In Sherman, for example, checks require the signatures of both Village President Trevor Clatfelter and the village clerk. Municipal governments in the area have such controls in place, officials said. “With an organization of any size, internal controls are very important,” Nuehring said.
“When you have that all commingled, it does make it a little bit more easy to have (fraud) happen,” Jessup said.īert Nuehring is a partner in the accounting firm Crowe Horwath, which audits counties, municipalities and other units of government across the state. This means the same person shouldn’t be writing checks, signing them and then balancing the checkbook at the end of the month, as was the case in Dixon, experts said.
One of the most basic financial protections governments - or any organizations - can put in place to prevent fraud is what accountants and auditors call “segregation of duties.” The allegations against Crundwell convey important lessons not only for future accountants but also for public officials, Jessup said. Authorities say Crundwell used the money to bankroll a lavish lifestyle that included a high-profile horse-breeding business and a $2.1 million motor home.Ĭarol Jessup teaches auditing and government and nonprofit accounting at the University of Illinois Springfield, and she is a former manager of Springfield’s finance department.
The case also raised questions about how those who oversee the finances for local governments across Illinois safeguard public coffers.Įxperts say keys to preventing the theft of public funds include dividing up money-handling responsibilities, closely scrutinizing financial records, and having regular independent audits.Ĭrundwell, who had run the northern Illinois city’s financial operations since the 1980s, pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday to a charge that she had stolen more than $53 million in public funds since 1990. When Rita Crundwell, the longtime comptroller of the city of Dixon, was arrested last month for allegedly stealing millions from the town of about 16,000, it called national attention to a community previously best known as the boyhood home of President Ronald Reagan.
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