A Union County grand jury has returned an indictment against a former Clark resident who was named trustee of a large inheritance fund for a juvenile relative, but allegedly illegally spent most of it for his purposes over a little more than two years, acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo and Clark Police Chief Pedro Matos jointly announced Thursday.
Officials say Anthony DiRobbio, 60, of Silver Springs, Florida, is charged with misapplication of entrusted property, a second-degree crime.
A joint investigation involving the Special Prosecutions Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Clark Police Department, initiated in October 2018, revealed that DiRobbio’s sister, a Woodbridge resident, died in June 2015 at the age of 72, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Rosenthal, who is prosecuting the case.
Her will left her entire estate in equal shares to her two grandsons: one adult and one juvenile. They will also establish a trust for the juvenile’s share of the estate and named DiRobbio as trustee, with all of the funds to be released to the juvenile when he turned 25.
The juvenile’s share of the estate amounted to over $85,000, according to the investigation, which was led by Prosecutor’s Office Sgt. Rudolfo Correia and Clark Police Sgt. Joseph Teston.
But from the creation of the trust’s bank account in June 2016 through mid-November 2018, less than $10,000 was paid out for the benefit of the juvenile.
Meanwhile, DiRobbio made cash withdrawals from the account amounting to more than $75,000, none of which went to the juvenile’s support or well-being. These funds disappeared and have not been recovered according to officials.
Convictions on second-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by prison terms of 5 to 10 years in state prison.
These criminal charges are mere accusations. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.