Are you going to make a federal case out of it?

Employees who handle cash in small towns often have few safeguards, so it’s easy for fraudsters to abscond with millions over several years. Here’s how to prevent and deter these supposedly trusted and longtime staffers and how to prosecute them under federal laws.

By now, we all know about Rita Crundwell’s infamous $53 million embezzlement from the city of Dixon, Illinois, when she was its comptroller and treasurer. She stole an astronomical amount, but crooked employees often rip off small municipalities. Vicky Vinson Capetillo, former city clerk of the city of Groveton, Georgia, stole almost $900,000. And Nancy Dobrowski, clerk of the village of Burnham, Illinois, stole $700,000 in her nine-year scheme. [See Former Groveton City Clerk Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $900,000, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Dec. 18, 2017, and Former Burnham clerk given 18 months in prison for theft from village, Sept. 9, 2014, Chicago Tribune.] These are just two of too many.