Charges dismissed against monk, lawyer
Were accused of fraud tied to COVID funds
A federal judge has dismissed charges against a monk and his lawyer who were arrested last year on allegations that they fraudulently obtained more than $3.5 million in COVID-19 relief funds meant for businesses hurt by the pandemic, court records show.
The charges against Brian Andrew Bushell, 48, and his attorney, Tracey M.A. Stockton, 65, both of Marblehead, were dismissed Thursday in US District Court in Boston.
Prosecutors had sought the dismissal, and Assistant US Attorney David M. Holcomb wrote in a legal filing last week that the “government respectfully submits that dismissal is in the interests of justice.”
Holcomb didn’t elaborate and a spokesperson for Acting US Attorney Joshua S. Levy declined to comment.
“Very pleased with the result but it was a long road,” Robert Fisher, a lawyer for Bushell, said in a statement. “To have your ministry raided and shut down while you are arrested by the FBI and accused of a $3.5 million fraud is an absolutely terrifying circumstance.”
Thankfully, “federal prosecutors allowed us the opportunity to advocate on behalf of Fr. Bushell and his ministry and we were able to persuade them of our client’s innocence,” Fisher said.
He said his client “is now focused on rebuilding his reputation and ministry.”
A lawyer for Stockton couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
The pair were arrested in October 2022 on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions, prosecutors said at the time.
Federal prosecutors said that Bushell, whom they described as a purported Orthodox Christian monk, controlled several Marblehead-based organizations, including a charity called St. Paul’s Foundation; a “monastic house” called Shrine of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Patron of Sailors, Brewers & Repentant Thieves; a purported clergy residence called Annunciation House; the monastic brewery Marblehead Brewing Co.; and a craft saltern known as Marblehead Salt Co.
Stockton served as general counsel to the various outfits and she and Bushell lived together at Annunciation House, prosecutors said.
Bushell allegedly overstated his organizations’ 2019 operating costs by a vast amount so he could receive larger loans, and he and Stockton allegedly fabricated the entities’ revenues and expenses, prosecutors said last year. As a result, they received $3.5 million in Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds for St. Paul’s, St. Nicholas, Annunciation House, and Marblehead Salt, authorities said at the time.
Officials had said the pair also allegedly inflated the number of employees and payroll expenses at the various organizations, netting them an additional $146,608 in Paycheck Protection Program funds.