Fool Me Once: Scams, Stories, and Secrets from the Trillion-Dollar Fraud Industry (for True EPUB) by Kelly Richmond Pope

Author:Kelly Richmond Pope [Richmond Pope, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: 2023-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Accidental Whistleblowers

Accidental whistleblowers don’t set out to expose fraud. They’re not looking to find what they found. They’re terrified of what they discovered and don’t know whom to turn to and whom to trust. At first, they may want to ignore their finding in the hopes it will just disappear. They don’t want to get involved, but their inner voice tells them they must. They’re good soldiers, even if they’re not prepared for war.

Kathe Swanson (the Dixon fraud whistleblower) was simply doing her job and stumbled upon something that didn’t look right. She reported it to her superior, as any good employee would. She certainly never expected to discover that her boss had stolen over $50 million from their small town.

After discovering the bank statement, Kathe slipped it into the sunglass container in her SUV. “I didn’t know who to turn to,” she recalled. “I didn’t know if it was something I should go to our police department with. Honestly, I thought, ‘Who can I trust?’”1

Several days later, she told Dixon mayor Jim Burke about the suspicious account that Rita controlled. She handed him a copy of the bank statement.

Burke was a beloved fixture in Dixon. He had a reputation for being honest and fair; he was elected to four terms—sixteen years—as mayor. He had done a lot of good things for Dixon (population 15,165), the boyhood hometown of President Ronald Reagan, who had been a lifeguard at the local park. Abraham Lincoln joined the militia in Dixon during the Black Hawk War. Charles Rudolph Walgreen, the founder of the eponymous drugstore chain, got his pharmacy started here. People came from around the globe to visit the historic town. They were charmed by the folksy vibe and friendly faces.

But over the last few years, the town had been suffering. Money seemed to disappear. Budgets were slashed. City employees had been laid off, and necessary town equipment hadn’t been purchased. No one could understand why.

Burke looked over the bank statement pages and the acid in his gut started to churn. “Before we call the authorities, we need to make sure that what we think is true is true,” he told Kathe.2

Kathe and Burke conducted their own research at night, on weekends, and in the early mornings. Eventually, Burke brought the information to the FBI in Rockford, Illinois, and agents began investigating.

For six months, Kathe had to pretend everything was fine. She couldn’t let Rita know that anything was amiss. “I’d ask questions like, ‘How are your dogs? How was your competition?’” she said.3 Meaningless conversation.

The deception took a toll on Kathe. She and Rita Crundwell were very different people: Kathe Swanson was traditional and quiet, whereas Crundwell was brassy, jet-setting around the world and hobnobbing with horse folk. Still, they were friendly enough. Crundwell, who gave everyone nicknames, dubbed her “Swan.” Kathe never thought her beloved boss—who returned from trips laden with gifts for the entire office—would do anything underhanded.4 There was no reason not to trust her. No one ever suspected that Dixon’s favorite daughter was robbing them blind.

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