Former Hubbardston tax collector forfeits retirement account

Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA)

Nov. 22--WORCESTER -- Cynthia Washburn-Doane, the former Hubbardston tax collector convicted last year of embezzling $535,000 in town funds, will forfeit $25,000 in contributions she made toward her retirement account to pay restitution to the town under a settlement agreement approved Tuesday by a judge.

On Nov. 18, 2016, Ms. Washburn-Doane was ordered to serve a year in jail and pay restitution in an amount to be determined after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to charges of embezzlement by a municipal officer, larceny of more than $250 by a common scheme and falsifying corporate books. Judge Janet Kenton-Walker sentenced the then 62-year-old Ms. Washburn-Doane to 2 years in the House of Correction, with 1 year to be served. The balance of the jail sentence was suspended for 3 years with probation.

As conditions of probation, Ms. Washburn-Doane was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and any related treatment deemed appropriate by the Probation Department and to pay restitution in an amount to be determined by the court within 20 days of her release from custody.

Prosecutors said at the time of the plea that Ms. Washburn-Doane stole $535,000 in tax proceeds over a 10-year span beginning in 2004 and ending when she resigned at the end of May 2014. Her resignation as tax collector, a position she had held for 25 years, came after financial irregularities were uncovered by the town and an audit was conducted.

Under an agreement Ms. Washburn-Doane made with the town on May 28, 2014, she consented to cooperating with a probe into irregularities in Hubbardston's financial records. As part of the agreement, she said she would disclose what she knew about missing tax payments and agreed to pay the town $120,000 in restitution to help cover associated legal costs, money that was paid prior to her plea hearing.

When questioned by state police investigators, Ms. Washburn-Doane, who made about $30,000 a year as tax collector, admitted stealing the missing money, saying she had a daughter in college and used the stolen funds to pay her family's bills.

In addition to the $120,000 paid by Ms. Washburn-Doane, the town recovered $210,000 in insurance proceeds, Assistant District Attorney John A. O'Leary said at the time of the plea hearing.

On Tuesday, Judge Kenton-Walker approved an agreement between Ms. Washburn-Doane and the town calling for her to pay $25,000 of her accumulated deductions in the Worcester County Regional Retirement System as restitution in the criminal case. The town agreed not to seek any additional restitution and to dismiss a civil suit that was pending against Ms. Washburn-Doane.

The former tax collector acknowledged as part of the agreement that having been convicted of a crime related to her former position with the town, she is not entitled to receive a pension or retirement allowance or any interest that had accrued on her accumulated contributions to the retirement system.

Judge Kenton-Walker adopted the agreement between Ms. Washburn-Doane and the town of Hubbardston as a final order of restitution in the former tax collector's criminal case.

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