How many pink collar criminals do you know? This is the fifth in a series of blogs addressing pink collar crime and those who are adept at it.

Have you ever heard of Rita Crundwell? If not you should catch up by reading previous blogs about the greatest pink collar thief in history!

Crundwell committed the largest municipal fraud/embezzlement case in history when she stole more than $53 million from the town of Dixon, Illinois. The previous “pink collar” record had been committed by a woman named Harriette Walters. Walters was convicted of embezzling $48 million over 20 years in her role as a tax-assessment manager for the District of Columbia. She is currently serving a 16 1/2-year sentence in a West Virginia federal prison.

So why is women’s stealing on the rise?

Perhaps a good part of it is that women are deemed more trustworthy and are in positions to control funds much more often these days. That observation is supported by many who feel the need by women to provide more material possessions for their families.

Maintaining a lavish lifestyle is a commonly cited rationale for committing white- or pink-collar crimes. For Crundwell, it appeared to be her top priority. Crundwell first embezzled $181,000 in 1991, which she used to purchase a Suncruiser Pontoon boat and $3,000 worth of diamonds. The theft continued in 1992, when she pocketed $121,000, more than two thirds of which she used to pay off her credit card. In 1999 Crundwell pocketed more than $1 million, using $125,000 to purchase a horse. Even as the recession set in, Crundwell continued to use Dixon as her personal piggy bank, embezzling millions of dollars more.

So how did she pull it off for so long?

She used a common method—fake invoices. One recent study showed that the most common embezzlement scheme involved the issuance of forged checks or unauthorized checks. In her two-decade scheme, Crundwell created 179 fake invoices. Her position as city comptroller made it easy for her to mask the fraud, and was another factor that Crundwell had in common with the majority of embezzlers: nearly three quarters of embezzlers are employees who held finance/bookkeeping and accounting positions.

Do you think stop theft classes would be a good combatant against this recent scourge? I welcome comments from my loyal followers.