Hamilton council hopeful Robynn Dumont accused of raiding the estate of Clarksboro client with dementia for at least $850,000
Robynn Dumont, a Demoratic candidate for a four-year term on the Hamilton Township Council Lippincott, who is now 85, had considerable assets in her name, court documents indicate. The handling of her care and finances led to a dispute between the two daughters, and eventually the wholesale raiding of her bank accounts and investments by Dumont, according to allegations in a civil complaint filed in Gloucester County.
Lippincott’s daughter Sandra Carty had initially sued her sister in April 2010, alleging the sister had taken advantage of their mother by coercing her to make financial decisions.
In February 2012 she amended the suit to add Dumont, accusing the accountant of making suspicious financial transactions and transferring at least $850,000 and possibly much more from Lippincott, who “had diminished mental capacity and was vulnerable to coercion and undue influence.”
According to Carty’s civil suit, her sister and Dumont worked in tandem “wrongfully transferring, dissipating, converting and encumbering the assets of Ms. Lippincott.” And when a judge ordered Dumont to pay back a sum of money to Lippincott, Dumont allegedly bounced checks, leading to the filing of a criminal complaint against her.
At about the time Dumont was added to the civil lawsuit in February, the Hamilton Democrats announced she was one of their candidates for a seat on Township Council.
“I want to make what difference I can,” she said at the time.
The 51-year-old Dumont and her attorney did not return calls seeking comment. Peter Celano, Lippincott’s court-appointed legal guardian since February 2012, called Dumont an “absolute scoundrel.”
“She’s a thief and deserves to go to jail,” said Celano, who filed the criminal complaint with the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. “I think it’s important that people in her party and electorate know what... they’re getting into.”
Hamilton’s Democrat party chairman Gil Lugossy could not be reached for comment on Friday.
A trail of mortgages
Joy Lippincott was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006 and suffers from dementia that worsened after a fall in August 2009, according to the original lawsuit filed by her daughter Sandra Carty. During her recuperation, a discussion of how her care would be paid for led to a dispute between her daughters, the suit says. The other daughter, Pamela Wardach, allegedly moved some of her mother’s money into her own account, and induced Lippincott to give her power of attorney and to designate her as the majority recipient of her estate in Lippincott’s will, the suit says. A phone number for Wardach could not be found.As the lawsuit proceeded, Carty and her lawyer discovered that Dumont, working through her two companies in Sewell, RKL Group and Capital Business Services, had arranged for “various suspicious financial transactions” involving Lippincott’s assets, the suit alleges.
Beginning as far back as at least 2007, Dumont had begun borrowing “substantial funds, with or without Ms. Lippincott’s knowledge,” amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, the suit says.
"She’s an absolute scoundrel. There’s probably no sanctions stiff enough," said Peter Celano, Lippincott's court-appointed legal guardian.
They include a $600,000 mortgage on a Deptford home, a $100,000 mortgage on a property in a location that is not listed, and five additional mortgages on properties in Camden, each worth $50,000, according to the suit. The mortgages appear to have exceeded the actual values of the properties: RKL Group had purchased the Camden properties in May 2008 for $21,200 each, and the Deptford property was valued at just $118,100 in 2010, according property records.
The city of Camden has since put tax liens on the five properties, putting the security of Lippincott’s “investments” at risk, according to a report by an attorney appointed on her behalf.
“Mrs. Lippincott’s interests...are clearly in conflict with Robynn Dumont,” the report said.
Celano, Lippincott’s legal guardian, said that the funds for the mortgages all came from the sale of Lippincott’s common stock “at Dumont’s behest.”
The money was transferred into two different bank accounts that then paid for the mortgages, Celano said. For example, he said Dumont transferred $570,000 from Lippincott’s account in December 2011, in four payments ranging from $10,000 to $300,000. The court documents do not make clear which fund transfers allegedly went toward the mortgages, or whether Dumont is accused of transferring money for other uses.
“She has single-handedly dissipated the life savings of an 85-year-old woman who is incapacitated in her home,” Celano said. “She’s an absolute scoundrel. There’s probably no sanctions stiff enough, but I’d be satisfied if she was sent to prison for a few years.”
Bounced checks
In February 2012, as Carty’s application to appoint Celano as guardian was pending, Dumont allegedly transferred an additional $180,000 from Lippincott to herself. Celano said he went to court and a Gloucester County chancery judge ordered Dumont to pay back the $180,000 with interest by Nov. 1, but the deadline passed and when the checks finally came in late, they bounced. The judge recommended filing criminal charges, Celano said. This past February, shortly before the township Democratic committee nominated Dumont to run for a four-year seat on the council, Celano filed a criminal complaint in East Greenwich Township alleging that Dumont had bounced three checks in December 2012: two in the amount of $7,666.66 and one for $186,000.Celano’s complaint alleges that Dumont “has not made any attempt to reimburse the victim or contact her in any way,” and he said the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office was investigating. A prosecutor’s office representative said last week that the office was reviewing the complaint.
“The actual scope of the criminal investigation exceeds bad check charges,” Celano said.
Dumont filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 12, listing Lippincott, Wardach and Carty as creditors. The filing indicates the Camden and Deptford mortgages could still be repaid, saying the debts are to be “retained and paid pursuant to contract.”
But a $630,000 debt to Lippincott that is dated to 2011 is listed as unsecured, non-priority debt that could be discharged, meaning the bankruptcy could end up relieving Dumont of the responsibility of paying the money back. Unsecured debt refers to debt that is not backed by a mortgaged property or other collateral, but it is not clear how the debt was incurred, or whether the $630,000 was allegedly transferred in addition to the mortgages.
Dumont’s bankruptcy form also lists a series of debts to members of Wardach’s family.
A nationwide problem
The transfers Dumont allegedly made from Lippincott’s life savings are examples of widespread financial exploitation that costs senior citizens $2.9 billion annually, according to a study by the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the MetLife Marketing Institute. The best shield against such abuse of a mentally incapacitated senior citizen is a network of friends and loved ones, NCPEA president Georgia Anetzberger said.“What you really hope for is that they’re surrounded by people that would prevent the problem and seek assistance,” Anetzberger said. “One of the highest risk factors in all forms of elder abuse, specifically financial abuse, is being socially isolated or having a lack of social support.”
Eileen Doremus, executive director of the Mercer County Office on Aging, said financial abuse has been on the rise as more senior citizens elect to live at home rather than a nursing home or institution.
“It will cost less if we keep people in their own homes with the right supportive systems,” Doremus said. “The flip side is that the longer they stay in their homes, the more opportunities there are for financial exploitation.”
Lippincott’s situation is not uncommon, Doremus said. The office’s Adult Protective Services division is used to getting calls from senior citizens reporting missing Social Security checks after an adult child moves home, she said.
Doremus said the office is quick to act to prevent further abuse, including verbal or physical confrontations.
“All of us in the aging network need to become more adept at looking at some of these changes, whether they’re visible to the eye or you’re hearing something,” she said.
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