Shrine of St. Nicholas is suing the town and two town employees for wrongful collection of real-estate taxes and other constitutional violations.
Shrine of St. Nicholas is owned by Brian Bushell, who was arrested last year for his alleged role in a $3.6 million dollar Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act fraud scheme.
On Tuesday, an agenda was posted to the town’s website for the Select Board to meet on Monday, Nov. 13 at 9:30 a.m. in executive session “with regards to Shrine of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker v. Town of Marblehead.”
In the suit, which was filed in Essex Superior Court on Aug. 25, the plaintiff alleges that the town has committed “wrongful assessment and collection of real-estate taxes with respect to real property currently exempted from taxation” under the general law known as the “statutory exemptions” law.
Tracey Stockton, the plaintiff’s attorney in the case, was also arrested with Bushell last year in connection to the alleged fraud scheme.
The lawsuit calls for the town to rescind its “preliminary tax statement” and honor “the tax exemptions granted to plaintiff.”
Along with the town, Tax Collector Rachel Blaisdell and Town Assessor Karen Bertolino are listed as co-defendants.
The plaintiff also lists alleged violations of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution in the claims for relief, as well as an alleged violation of Part I, Article 2 of the Constitution, which deals with the “Right and Duty of Public Religious Worship, Protection Therein,” and a count of “Declaratory Judgment and Injunctive Relief.”
According to the lawsuit, Shrine of St. Nicholas is a religious entity under law that operates “exclusively to serve as an Orthodox Christian shrine dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, patron saint of sailors, brewers, and repentant.”
In addition to Shrine of St. Nicholas, Bushell, who presented himself as an Orthodox Christian monk, also operated a clergy residence known as the Annunciation House, a monastic brewery known as Marblehead Brewing Co., and a craft saltern known as Marblehead Salt Co.
On Dec. 1, 2020, Bushell acquired the property for Shrine of St. Nicholas at 120 Pleasant St. for the “purpose of expanding an existing Orthodox Christian monastic complex,” according to the suit.
The suit also claims that Bushell applied for and was granted statutory exemptions, however, Blaisdell issued a fiscal year 2024 preliminary real-estate tax bill. When asked by the plaintiff if the tax bill was issued mistakenly, Blaisdell allegedly replied that it was not.
Bushell and Stockton were arrested in October 2022 and face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unlawful monetary transactions related to their alleged roles in the COVID-relief scheme. Both Bushell and Stockton allegedly overstated operational expenses of the organizations that Bushell ran to receive exaggerated Economic Injury Disaster Loans that were used to “fund a lavish lifestyle,” according to U.S Attorney Rachael S. Rollins’ office in a statement released last year.
The two allegedly used the funds to conduct renovations to two properties in town to develop them into a monastic complex, complete with a brewery and beer garden, as well as purchase a new residential property, furnishings, audio-system equipment, and antique furniture.
On Thursday, the U.S District Court for the District of Massachusetts filed a motion to dismiss the criminal case, citing the dismissal as “in the interests of justice” without further elaboration.
The lawsuit claims the town is potentially using the complaint alleging misuse of relief funds to challenge the tax exemption granted to the property.
Stockton claims in the suit that “the religious status of the shrine as a monastic complex is unaffected by the complaint.”
The suit goes on to state that the construction process of the monastery began in December 2020, however a stop-work order was issued by the town during the pandemic. The plaintiff claims that Marblehead employed an unlicensed building commissioner who issued the stop-work order.
Construction at the property has still not finished, and the suit claims that the town has created roadblocks to the project’s completion.
“From inception, the shrine has experienced administrative delays and work stoppages engineered by Marblehead; in effect, keeping the site limited to an ongoing construction site for the past six years, except for brief periods of operation during which plaintiff continued to be harassed,” the suit states.
In addition to requesting that the assessment and collection of any tax on the property is found to be illegal, the suit is also calling for the issuing of “preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the assessment and collection of taxes in deference to the statutory exemptions rightfully accorded to the shrine,” as well as for the court to “impose damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees; and impose such and further relief that this court deems just and proper.”
Material from a Weekly News article by Charlie McKenna was used in this report.