MIDDLESEX BOROUGH — Two days after being accused of stealing $190,000 from the political campaigns for which he acted as treasurer, Ronald DiMura has resigned as mayor.

DiMura's resignation was effective Wednesday, according to a statement from the Borough Council on the municipal website. 

DiMura was already a lame duck after losing the election in November to Republican Council President John Madden. His resignation means he will leave office two weeks earlier. Madden will assume the mayor's post on Jan. 1

"Mr. DiMura is entitled to his day in court, but If these allegations are true, his blatant abuse of power, disregard for the law, and violation of the public trust should be punished to the fullest extent possible," the council said in a statement. "If proven true, these actions were committed by an individual who very clearly does not represent or share the values of the Middlesex Borough Council or our residents, and on behalf of those residents, we condemn this behavior in the strongest possible terms."

Madden's term as mayor will "begin a new era of transparency and accountability," according to the message.

According to state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the 63-year-old DiMura used his position as treasurer for the Middlesex Borough Democratic Campaign Committee and for a number of municipal campaigns over a roughly five-year span between 2013 and June 2019 to collect donations for the charity that DiMura ran.

Grewal said only a small amount of the money actually went to charitable causes, as most went to DiMura’s own bank accounts.

According to court documents filed in the case, DiMura took $75,000 from individuals that he said would be invested to create large interest payments, while instead putting the money into his personal and business accounts.

DiMura is charged with three counts of theft by deception, two counts of official misconduct, as well as pattern of official misconduct, money laundering, misapplication of entrusted property and tampering with public records.

Some of those charges stem from a $10,000 donation that Grewal said DiMura took from a developer to put toward the charity DiMura ran. Instead, Grewal said DiMura pocketed that cash as well.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ

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