Rita Crundwell, The City of Dixon, and the Significance of Ethical Fading

The City of Dixon was one of the most prolific fraud cases in the history of the U.S. It is not because of the amount of money that was involved, but more about how it was done in such a small city. Nobody expected it to happen there. The most common theme that comes up when discussion of this occurs is how it was not caught. However, in this article I will briefly explain another topic that I have thought about. How did Rita think this was ok? Of course, we can delve into the details into how she did it, but I am more interested in her inner workings. In one of my classes, we had a forensics accounting lecture occur. In one of the slides, the presenter introduced us to The Dark Triad.

I believe Narcissism and Psychopathy was at play. Humans are selfish by nature, but narcissism plays it up to the next level. Psychopathy, as we all know from watching crime shows on serial killers, is the lack of empathy for others. This combined with narcissism can be a deadly combo. I believe this is what Rita Crundwell had. One thing we need to note is that not all psychopaths are killers or murderers. Rita was well regarded in her community and was described as a kind and good person. Here are the numbers related to her case: 

That is a lot of money for one person. During the investigation, they found that she started with small lump sums of money and then gradually increased it over the years. I think at first, just maybe, Rita needed the money for something else that was urgent. Then, when she realized that she did not get caught, she started doing it again. Over time this got worse and worse. This is an example of Ethical Fading. A phenomenon where one's own moral values or actions go out the window when the situation arises. I believe that Rita was a psychopath. Yes, ethical fading could have happened, but someone with a moral conscience would have felt convicted with doing these actions. Taking money from the city, the people that need it the most, would have convicted anyone with a sense of morals. The city was in debt and struggling financially to put a cherry on top. My point is, in this article, that when you have someone with psychopathic tendencies like Rita, figure out that they can get away with doing something immoral for personal gain. They grab onto it like it's a piece of candy. Ethical fading for these kinds of people can be a dangerous trap that nobody wants to delve into its aftermath later. If you want to learn more about Rita Crundwell’s case with the City of Dixon, here is a resource to begin your research.