Convicted treasurer drops retirement fund fight
The former Isle La Motte town clerk and treasurer convicted of embezzling $100,000 from taxpayers has dropped her effort to collect more than $23,000 in retirement funds.
Suzanne LaBombard, also known as Suzanne LaBrecque, dropped her request in a letter received by the town this week.
LaBombard, 56, dropped the request a few days after the Burlington Free Press reported she has used two local lawyers in recent years to seek extra retirement money. LaBombard was paid about $8,000 due her, but she contended the town had agreed to add to her retirement account.
Isle La Motte officials and the Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System rejected the request on grounds they were unable to find any documentation supporting the use of town dollars to buy extra retirement credits.
"When it was suggested to me that there may be some retirement funds available, I will admit I thought about it. I did agree to have Louise Koss look into this," LaBombard wrote, referring to one of her lawyers, "however, upon further considerations, I know that it is wrong. I did not realize that there was a potential for media coverage, and am sincerely regretful for you and for my family that this has resurfaced due to my actions."
The letter, which was addressed "to the selectboard and residents of Isle la Motte," included apologies for bringing the case back into the public spotlight.
"I am so sorry to have these wounds opened up again, and would like to clear up the most recent publicity. I am not pursuing any retirement money. I would not accept, nor do I deserve, any money from the town of Isle La Motte. I understand that I have damaged your town and I am deeply sorry for that," LaBombard wrote.
"Please accept my deep regret," she wrote in closing.
Repeated attempts in recent days to reach LaBombard, who lives in Swanton, have been unsuccessful.
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LaBombard's letter was dated Feb. 28, the same day Isle La Motte, which has about 500 year-round residents, held its 2015 town meeting.
During that meeting, one resident asked the Selectboard about LaBombard's request outlined in the Free Press earlier in the week.
Board Chairman Stephen Stata said the town was holding the money in an escrow account until any potential legal fight was resolved.
Stata had told the Free Press earlier that the town's legal counsel encouraged that approach.
The Vermont Municipal Employees' Retirement System "returned those funds to the Town because it could not locate specific Selectboard authorization, as evidence in Selectboard minutes (or other records on file with the Treasurer's Office) for the retroactive credit payments made to VMERS," Town Attorney Joseph S. McLean wrote in documents reviewed by the Burlington Free Press.
The retirement funds — $23,180 as of Jan. 31 — were discussed by the Selectboard during a special meeting in late January to finalize the budget. The town reviews all bank accounts as part of the budget process.
McLean told Free Press last week he has written in recent years to LaBombard's lawyers indicating the claim was not valid.
LaBombard, who served as town clerk and treasurer for about 21 years, was sentenced in December 2009 to six months to 10 years in prison with all but 90 days suspended.
She pleaded guilty to three felonies: embezzlement and two false claims in excess of $500. Two other false-claims counts were dropped in the plea agreement.
LaBombard also was ordered to make restitution and to complete 500 hours of community service while serving probation.
Town and state officials have repeatedly said they were unable to determine the exact loss to the town. The $100,000 figure was offered by LaBombard.
State police, prosecutors, town officials and auditors have said missing financial records from LaBombard's office made it impossible to determine how much money was stolen.
She agreed to pay the town $150,000 to cover legal and auditing expenses in a settlement she negotiated in private in March 2007 with two Selectboard members: her former live-in boyfriend, James Senesac Jr., and her father, Richard LaBrecque, records show.
She sold her home at 190 North Point Rd. for $168,000 to her parents, Richard and Catherine LaBrecque, on March 9, 2007, with a provision for a life leasehold for her. She cut a $150,000 check to the town as full settlement before taxpayers were told about the embezzlement, records show.
LaBombard was paid $40,963, not including fees, for the part-time municipal job in 2006.
The criminal investigation determined LaBombard deposited little cash in the town's bank account from 2002 to 2006. LaBombard recorded receiving $25,350 in cash in 2002 at the Clerk's Office, court records show. The town's bank account reflected $1,462 in deposits.
In the six months after LaBombard resigned, the new town treasurer, Betsy Howland, deposited as much cash in the town accounts as LaBombard had in the previous six years combined, the Free Press reported in 2011.
The letter from LaBombard was one of the last documents received this week by Howland, who stepped down on Town Meeting Day as town clerk after eight years. She will continue to serve as town treasurer.
Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@freepressmedia.com. Follow Mike on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FreepsMikeD.