CAMDEN, Maine — The properties of Russell “Rusty” Brace, the former longtime president of a local charity who is now the subject of a federal embezzlement probe, have been put up for sale.
Brace’s attorney Peter DeTroy said the sale was a step toward resolving the claims against his client.
“We have let the bank and charity know, so we can move toward the goal of restitution,” DeTroy said Wednesday.
A Knox County Superior Court justice agreed to attach liens of up to $3.8 million on Brace’s properties and freeze his bank accounts after the United Mid-Coast Charities sued Brace, accusing him of stealing that amount in donations. If the charity wins the lawsuit, any money netted from the sales after mortgages are paid off would go to the non-profit organization.
The properties that have gone up for sale include his Rockport home, a lakefront cottage in Washington, a home and undeveloped land in Rangeley, and his downtown Camden commercial/office building. The assessed values of those properties total $3 million.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are continuing their criminal investigation, DeTroy said. No criminal charges have been filed and the civil lawsuit against him by the charity is on hold because of the criminal investigation.
“I know generally, the case is moving forward. They’re not dawdling,” DeTroy said, pointing out that when issues of tax offenses are involved it can take longer because the Washington, D.C., office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office must be consulted by the local U.S. Attorney’s office.
The properties that are up for sale include Brace’s primary home on Spruce Street in Rockport. He and his wife Rebecca Brace purchased the 3,656-square-foot home on 1 acre near Rockport Harbor in June 1995. The home is assessed by the town for $774,800 and is being marketed for $895,000.
The home has five bedrooms and three baths, according to the real estate listing.
Also for sale is the couple’s three-bedroom, two-bathroom 2,048-square-foot cottage on Washington Pond. The property includes a sand beach. The 1980-built house has a fireplace, picture windows, and two screened porches.
The Washington property is assessed by the town at $314,954 and is being marketed for $385,000.
The four-story, 17,303-square-foot Brace Management commercial building at 21 Elm St. in Camden is assessed by the town at nearly $1.7 million. The 1830-built building is up for sale for $2.3 million.
The couple’s home on Alpine Way in Rangeley also is for sale. That 2,010-square-foot home, which overlooks the mountains and Rangeley Lake, is assessed by the town at $204,400. For sale at $399,800, the house is located on one acre near the Mingo Springs Golf Course and has five bedrooms, two full and two half bathrooms.
Brace also owns a nearly one acre undeveloped lot on adjacent Dorset Road. That lot is assessed by the town at $51,600 and is on the market for $66,000.
United Mid-Coast Charities Inc., based in Camden, contends that Brace embezzled $3.8 million from the organization from 2001 through August 2014 while he served as the board’s volunteer president. The charity filed a lawsuit seeking $3.8 million in damages and Justice Daniel Billings approved in October placing liens on Brace’s properties.
The charity’s lawsuit alleges that Brace admitted on Sept. 25 — a month after he retired from his volunteer post — to taking numerous, and sometimes large, checks earmarked for United Mid-Coast Charities and depositing them in his Brace Management Account at the First, NA bank.
Brace served as board president of United Mid-Coast Charities from 1997 until Aug. 20, 2014, when he stepped down. According to an affidavit filed with the organization’s lawsuit, newly appointed board President Stephen Crane discovered the embezzlement the following month after talking to a donor whose large contributions could not be found among the charity’s financial records.
Brace is founder and president of Brace Management Group Inc. of Camden. He has served on local boards over the years and was named Townsperson of the Year in 2005 by the Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce.