HILLSDALE—Abby Lundy, 60, of Colonial Boulevard, this year’s chair of the ambulance committee on the Borough Council, has resigned her seat under a darkening cloud and the borough is undertaking an outside audit after Lundy was arrested on charges of embezzlement and forgery—two felonies and a misdemeanor—related to her former role as a financial officer at First Candle Inc. The New Canaan, Conn.-based nonprofit organization works against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other sleep-related infant deaths, and supports grieving families.

The arrest follows an extensive investigation by the New Canaan Police Department, initiated on July 9. Sgt. Peter Condos, a 36-year veteran of the New Canaan Police Department, led the investigation after police were alerted to a report of complex financial misconduct at the nonprofit. Lundy turned herself in to the police on the warrant, without incident.

As of Saturday, Aug. 24 at 5:13 a.m. Lundy was listed as in custody at Janet York Correctional Institution in Niantic, as she had not by then posted the $75,000 bond set by the court. (The amount reduced from the warrant’s stipulated $100,000.) That said, according to Mayor Michael Sheinfield on Monday at 7 p.m., Lundy is back in New Jersey. She resigned her council seat on Friday morning at 11:15, he said.

A special meeting of the mayor and council of the Borough of Hillsdale is set for Thursday, Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. to appoint an individual to fill the vacated council seat. Formal action may or may not be taken during this meeting, which is open to the public. The meeting agenda and relevant documents will be available in advance on the borough’s website under Government/Agendas & Minutes.

The next regular meeting of the mayor and council is Tuesday, Sept. 10.

Irregularities upon irregularities

According to the warrant—which Pascack Press obtained from the Stamford/Norwalk Judicial District on Monday afternoon—the nonprofit’s CEO, Alison Jacobson, reported that First Candle, Inc.’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status was revoked in 2023, prompting her to turn to Lundy for answers. Eventually, after initially saying she had met with the IRS to correct the matter, it came to light no such meeting occurred.

Scrutinizing the organization’s finances, Jacobson discovered that Lundy, who was responsible for managing the nonprofit’s financial operations, had not filed IRS Form 1023, which was necessary to reinstate the organization’s tax-exempt status. 

Moreover, under Lundy no payroll taxes had been withheld since 2020, leading the IRS to believe that the organization was no longer in operation.

Further investigation revealed that Lundy, a Republican on the Hillsdale council whose term was due to end Dec. 31, had failed to file the required 990 forms for the years 2020–2023. It was also discovered, says the warrant, that Lundy had diverted IRS and Connecticut State correspondence to her home address, thereby concealing the financial irregularities from the organization.

Jacobson’s findings were confirmed, the warrant says, when Lundy admitted, via text message, that she had not filed the payroll taxes as required.

In addition to these infractions, Jacobson says she uncovered that Lundy had forged her signature on a state registration form, specifically the CHAR500 NYS Annual Filing for Charitable Organizations, in an attempt to hide the financial discrepancies.

A detailed examination of Lundy’s work from 2018 to the present revealed multiple instances of theft, including unauthorized duplicate payments made to Lundy’s financial services account beginning in December 2020. This scheme, carried out over several years, involved Lundy fraudulently issuing duplicate payments to herself under the guise of her normal salary. The affidavit suggests that Lundy exploited her position to create and authorize these additional payments without proper oversight.

As a result of these allegations, Lundy was charged with first-degree larceny, third-degree forgery, and second-degree forgery related to a public record. She was arrested on Thursday, Aug. 22 after turning herself in at New Canaan Police Headquarters. She was transported to court for her first appearance.

Lundy’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 9 a.m. at Stamford Superior Court. We have invited Lundy to comment for this article.

Mayor Michael Sheinfield got in touch with us Monday night, from the Hillsdale Public School Board of Education meeting at Meadowbrook School, after we sought comment.

He said, “We respect her rights under due process. Out of an abundance of caution … we asked our outside auditors to review our finances from the time before the borough administrator, the CFO, and I entered our current roles. I can tell you that no member of the council has the ability to encumber or release borough funds. I will release the findings… as soon as we receive the results.”

Thursday, Aug. 29 is the last date for a candidate to declare for the Nov. 5 General Election. On Aug. 29, the Democratic mayor said, members will choose one of three candidates recommended by the local Republican Committee, and that candidate could declare he/she is then running for a new three-year term in November. 

Asked if he had anything to add, he said, “Innocent until proven guilty and we’ll let it play out and she resigned.”

First Candle says on its website that it is “committed to the elimination of SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths through education, while providing support for grieving families who have suffered a loss. This has been our role for more than 35 years. In 1994 we partnered with the National Institutes of Health on the Back to Sleep campaign, which led to a reduction in the rate of SIDS by more than 50%.”

It says, “Despite this, sudden unexpected infant death (SUID), which includes SIDS and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB), remains the leading cause of death for babies one month to one year of age. Due to SUID more than 300 babies every month may not live to see their first birthday. Infant mortality rates in the U.S. are also higher than in the 20 wealthiest nations.”

Jacobson, reached for comment, told us on Aug. 27 that “As soon as we learned what happened we were able to get our non-profit status reinstated. We are completely in compliance now. People can feel confident in donating to us.”

She said that under advisement she can’t yet comment on the case, instead speaking warmly of the work of her team—work that includes training and supporting first responders. “While I didn’t start the non-profit, my son died in 1997 from SIDS so this is a passion for me. My other colleague lost her son Christmas Eve morning to SIDS 40 years ago. It’s something that never goes away. We are a little charity with a big mission.”