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DIXON — More than 400 horses that once belonged to former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell will be on the auction block next month, as the federal government tries to recoup the more than $53 million she allegedly stole from the city over a 20-year period.
An online auction will be held Sept. 11 and 12 and a live auction will follow Sept. 23 and 24 at Crundwell’s horse farm, located about 4 miles southeast of downtown Dixon. The preauction reports and bidding will be open to the public, said U.S. Marshal Darryl McPherson, and no private sales will be held.
McPherson said the Marshals Service and the FBI have worked jointly to identify more than 400 horses at 22 farms across 13 states and 17 federal judicial districts since Crundwell was arrested April 17.
“It has been a remarkable and unprecedented responsibility,” he said Friday, speaking from Crundwell’s farm at a news conference. “My objective is to provide the sound care for the horses while keeping costs under control to be able to return the greatest amount to any victims of the alleged crime at the conclusion of this process.”
Some of Crundwell’s horses are world-renowned and could fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, said Mike Jennings with Professional Auction Service Inc., of Round Hill, Va., the company that won the contract to conduct the auction.
Others, especially the younger horses, could go for more reasonable prices.
“I think there will be an opportunity for people in all walks of life to come buy a horse out of this program,” he said. “Some of the unproven young horses or maybe the older mares may be ways people can get in at a reasonable cost and the average family will have a chance to raise their champion horse down the line.”
The higher the sales prices on the horses, the better. It’s costing the federal government $200,000 a month to care for the herd, and their expenses will get reimbursed before any money is set aside for the city of Dixon or anyone else who may have a claim in the case. Professional Auction Services will be paid via a buyer’s premium of 8 percent to 10 percent of the sales price of each horse.
The sale of the horses and other property is part of a civil forfeiture case against Crundwell, who also faces a federal charge of wire fraud. If convicted of that charge, she could face up to 20 years in prison. Crundwell was released on her own recognizance as the criminal case moves through the court system.
How do I register to bid
Contact the marshals or the auctioneer.
The article states: It’s costing the federal government $200,000 a month to care for the herd, and their expenses will get reimbursed before any money is set aside for the city of Dixon or anyone else who may have a claim in the case. Professional Auction Services will be paid via a buyer’s premium of 8 percent to 10 percent of the sales price of each horse.
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This means well over one million dollars will be lost to the horse care and auctioneers? My guess? There will be very little money left! What took these clowns over 4 months to get this done? Plus…if you look at the auction company they picked…they are large but seem fair at best! They have very few live auctions and they don’t seem like they will be heavy hitters? I guess time will tell!
With the economy as it is, I predict that these horses will do no better in average pricing that the last sale at the Quarter horse congress.
Prediction: Average sale price to be in the $12,500 per horse range.. which would yeild a total of for the 400 horses: $5,000,000 minus a $1,000,000 for care leaving a max of $4,000,000 for Dixon. (sort of short of the missing $53,000,000).
I think Joe is going to be pretty close in his prediction. I do not beleive that Dixon will be able to recover anywhere near the $53,000,000. Just do the math. Most of the money has been spent on expenses rather than capital for fixed goods. For example: As above it is costing $500/mo./horse, just in the care of the 400 head of horses. Now lets assume 400 head for the past 12 years (even though she has been showing for 20 yrs). 400 horese x $500/ Mo. care x (12 yearsX 12mo.per year)= $28,800,00.00. Now you can argue that she did not have that large a herd for that entire time. However, also consisder all the showing expenses: travel, fuel, grooms, trainers, parties, tips, meals, etc., a lot of money was for expense. eg. She showed so much that she was taking 4 months unpaind LOA plus her 4 weeks vacation from her job. To be conservative let us assume a 7 day week/ so that comes to 7x 16 weeks = 112 days a year x 15 years = 1680 days. In showing it cost at least $1000/day in expenses to so that comes to 1680 x 1000= $1,680.000 , so let’s say a rounding to a cool $2,000,000 in show expenses.
Add in other expenses like taxes, insurance, and such…leaves very little in the pot.
the thought of recovering anything more than a small percentage is asinine. if the federal government didn’t go after the funding and at least try to recoup some of the loss then it would be like rewarding her and screaming the everlasting statement that crime does pay. we will see if ur sentence is worth the 53,000,000 and ask yourself if it would be worth it to you