Hillsdale fills arrested woman’s council seat
Larceny case prompts review of town finances
HILLSDALE — A new councilman will be formally sworn in Sept. 10, replacing the councilwoman who resigned last week after her arrest in Connecticut in connection with an embezzlement scheme involving a nonprofit children’s organization.
Abby Lundy turned herself in and was arrested in August by police in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Lundy had served as a Republican borough councilwoman since she was first elected in 2016.
The mayor and council held a special council meeting on Aug. 29 and unanimously appointed Robert Colletti Jr. to fill the remainder of Lundy’s term, which expires on Dec. 31.
Colletti Jr. was officially sworn in on Sept. 3 by Mayor Michael Sheinfield and will be sworn in ceremonially by his father, who is the mayor of Elmwood Park, at the next scheduled council meeting, on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
Colletti Jr. will be on the November ballot to try to win a full term.
The mayor and council ordered an immediate review of the borough’s financial checks and balances to address any concerns.
The borough’s chief financial officer was directed to perform a high-level overview of the controls in
place for the borough and the swimming pool to prevent fraud or misuse of funds.
In a letter sent to all residents and posted on the borough’s website, the mayor noted:
● Check payments require department head, administrator and QPA approval and must be compliant to public purchasing laws.
● Online banking transactions require a second approval by either the clerk or the administrator.
● All bank statements are reconciled
to the general ledger monthly by the deputy treasurer and reviewed by the chief financial officer.
● Printing of checks and reconciling bank statements are done by two different employees.
● The administrator, clerk and CFO are all engaged in approval, generation and review of payroll activities.
● Elected officials and volunteers are not given access to the finance or banking systems.
● The best practices inventory submitted by previous CFOs on behalf of the borough for the past five years all record that these practices have been in place.
“There was no material findings included in any of the external audits conducted over the same period, and none of the findings or recommendations indicate that there is any fraud or embezzlement occurring in the borough or with the swimming pool utility,” Sheinfield said in the letter.
“The Borough’s chief financial officer and independent auditor will continue to review the municipal records, reports and accounts and will advise the mayor and council of their findings,” he wrote. “We will provide updates to the public from the CFO, and/ or independent auditor as we receive them.”
Lundy faces charges of first-degree larceny and second- and third-degree forgery related to a scheme to embezzle at least $85,000 from the Connecticutbased nonprofit First Candle Inc., which works to eradicate sudden infant death syndrome and other sleeprelated infant deaths while also providing support to grieving families.
Sgt. Peter Condos of the New Canaan police wrote in an arrest warrant that police began investigating Lundy in July, after the nonprofit’s CEO, Alison Jacobson, learned last year that its nonprofit status was revoked because the IRS reported that no payroll taxes had been withheld by the company since 2020, the Stamford Advocate reported.
Lundy served as the CFO for the nonprofit and was responsible for the filing.
A close examination of the company’s finances revealed “many instances of theft,” said the warrant, obtained by the Stamford Advocate. In total, investigators calculated that Lundy had allegedly “fraudulently transferred” $85,873.32 to herself from First Candle, the warrant said.