A purported monk and his lawyer were arrested Thursday in Marblehead on federal charges that they fraudulently received more than $3.5 million in relief funds meant for businesses hit hard by the pandemic, authorities said.
Brian Andrew Bushell, 47, and his attorney, Tracey M.A. Stockton, 64, both of Marblehead, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions, US Attorney Rachael S. Rollins’s office said in a statement.
They were slated to appear in US District Court in Boston on Thursday. Their lawyers didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Federal prosecutors said Bushell, a purported Orthodox Christian monk, controlled several Marblehead-based organizations, including a charity called St. Paul’s Foundation; a “monastic house” dubbed 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.
“We allege that these two individuals engaged in brazen, criminal behavior that took advantage of our government’s efforts to rescue organizations — both for-profit and non-profit — by assisting with specific, legitimate expenses during the global pandemic,” Rollins said. “Pandemic relief funds are not ‘free…
