New York AG sues far-right nonprofit for misusing funds to buy West Virginia castle

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. (WBOY) — The owners of an iconic castle in West Virginia are facing legal action after being accused of running a false charity.

According to a press release, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the nonprofit VDARE Foundation, as well as its leaders, Peter Brimelow and his wife Lydie Brimelow.

The suit claims that the pair diverted at least $2 million of funds from VDARE to “benefit themselves and their families.” These benefits include the $1.4 million purchase of a medieval castle just outside Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The suit says that the castle was meant to be used as office space for VDARE, but was instead used as a residence by the Brimelows and their family while they transferred official ownership of the building to out-of-state companies they controlled.

The suit added that after transferring ownership to their out-of-state companies, the Brimelows set up a “rent-back scheme” where VDARE used its charity funds to pay “rent” to the Brimelow-controlled companies in exchange for continued use of the castle and its grounds.

According to the suit, VDARE was initially established in New York in 1999 as a charitable nonprofit under the Lexington Research Institute. It claims that on paper, VDARE was described as a charitable research organization, but its primary activity was the operation of VDARE.com, a blog website that focused on opposing immigration.

“Charities are intended to serve the public, not to bankroll castles or pad personal fortunes,” Attorney General James said. “The Brimelows used VDARE like their personal piggy bank, draining millions in charitable assets to enrich themselves.”

Among other things, the suit is seeking to recover monetary damages and permanently bar the Brimelows from managing or soliciting for any New York charity. The suit has also asked the court to dissolve the VDARE Foundation and place the charity’s remaining assets under court supervision to be directed “legitimate charitable purposes.”