Robynn Dumont was an accountant for an 85-year-old woman with dementia and allegedly received mortgages from the woman and possibly other funds totaling at least $850,000, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the woman's daughter.
Robynn Dumont, a Democratic candidate for a four-year term on the Hamilton Township Council, dropped out of the race after being accused of defrauding a mentally incapacitated senior citizen. HAMILTON — A Democratic council candidate who is alleged to have wrongfully transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from a mentally incapacitated senior citizen has withdrawn from the race.
Robynn Dumont was seeking a four-year term on the council but said in an e-mail this afternoon that she was dropping out.
"The focus of this election should not be on scurrilous false accusations about any one of the candidates running, including me," Dumont said. "I have therefore decided to withdraw my name from the race so the electorate is not distracted from the serious issues confronting our township."
"The Democratic ticket must be allowed to move forward on its merits and bring the necessary changes we so desperately need to better our community," she said.
Dumont did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The Times reported Sunday that Dumont was an accountant for 85-year-old Joy Lippincott of Clarksboro, who has dementia, and allegedly took mortgages and possibly other funds totaling at least $850,000, according to a civil lawsuit filed by Lippincott's daughter.
In the February 2012 civil complaint, filed on Lippincott's behalf by her daughter, Sandra Carty, Dumont is alleged to have "borrowed substantial funds from Ms. Lippincott, with or without Ms. Lippincott's knowledge."
The funds include $600,000 for a mortgage on a West Deptford home, $250,000 on five mortgages for Camden properties and an additional $100,000 mortgage, taken by the RKL Group, a company owned by Dumont, according to the complaint.
In addition, Lippincott's court-appointed legal guardian Peter Celano filed a criminal complaint in East Greenwich in February alleging that Dumont bounced three checks after she was ordered to pay back $180,000 allegedly taken from Lippincott.
In the e-mail Dumont claimed she has "not been sued criminally or civilly." She called the allegations "outrageous and utterly false," and wrote, "I am in the process of consulting my attorneys concerning the initiation of a defamation action."
"The matter is a long-standing bitter feud between family members of Mrs. Lippincott, who has been an accounting client of mine for many years," she wrote. "I have always vigorously and passionately served Mrs. Lippincott’s interests with the highest standards of professionalism and consistent with my ethical obligations as an accountant."
Dumont was added as a defendant in Carty's complaint in February 2012, two years after Carty sued her sister, Pamela Wardach, over issues related to Lippincott's will and power of attorney.
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