NY attorney general sues VDARE, alleging charity fraud

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The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against the VDARE Foundation and its leaders, founder Peter Brimelow, and his wife, Lydia Brimelow.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of years of self-dealing and abuse of charitable assets in violation of New York law.

The complaint claims the Brimelows diverted at least $2 million in charitable funds from VDARE to benefit themselves and their families, while the organization failed to submit required financial filings or submitted untruthful certifications, according to the AG’s office.

VDARE also continued to solicit donations even after publicly declaring it had shut down, the suit claims.

James is seeking to recover monetary damages and permanently bar the Brimelows from soliciting for, or managing, any New York charity.

James is also asking the court to dissolve the Foundation and place the charity’s remaining assets under court supervision to be redirected to legitimate charitable purposes.

“The Brimelows used VDARE like their personal piggy bank, draining millions in charitable assets to enrich themselves,” James said in a news release.

VDARE was originally established in 1999 as a charitable nonprofit under the name Lexington Research Institute Ltd. While it presented itself as a charitable research organization, in practice, its primary activity was operating VDARE.com, a blog dedicated to opposing immigration, according to the AG’s office.

From the start, VDARE’s board was limited only to the Brimelows, their family members, and close associates, which enabled years of unchecked self-dealing, the suit claims.

An investigation uncovered that in 2020, the Brimelows used $1.4 million of VDARE’s charitable funds to buy a medieval-style castle in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, the suit claims.

The castle was purportedly acquired to use for offices and conferences, but the Brimelows promptly moved their family in and then orchestrated a series of transactions transferring ownership of the property to companies they owned or controlled, according to the complaint.

After transferring ownership of the castle to their family’s out-of-state companies, the Brimelows set up a scheme in which VDARE paid rent to the Brimelow-controlled entities in exchange for continued use of the castle and its grounds.

Through sham lease agreements and backdated loans, the Brimelows were able to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from VDARE, the suit claims.

Lydia Brimelow also pledged all of VDARE’s assets as collateral for a loan from a company managed by her father, according to the AG.

When the Attorney General started to investigate the Brimelows repeatedly sought to obstruct it, according to the AG.

“They ignored lawful investigatory subpoenas, withheld records, and forced the OAG to go to court simply to obtain basic documents,” according to the news release.

VDARE has been held in contempt of court twice, owes tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid fines that continue to accrue, and still refuses to comply with court orders, according to the AG.

In 2024, VDARE publicly announced it was shutting down and closed its website. By that time, millions of dollars in charitable assets had been funneled to family-controlled entities, leaving only $150,000 in VDARE’s accounts, the suit claims.

According to the AG’s office, VDARE sent:

• More than $1.7 million to Berkeley Springs Castle Foundation (BCF), a West Virginia corporation created by Lydia Brimelow.
• At least $1.18 million to Happy Penguins, a now-defunct Connecticut corporation owned by Peter and Lydia Brimelow
• At least $39,439 in backdated, unrepaid loans to BBB LLC, a for-profit company created and controlled by Lydia Brimelow
• $230,000 to Lydia Brimelow’s father for consulting services.

Despite announcing VDARE’s closure, the Brimelows did not actually dissolve the organization and instead continued soliciting donations. The group has also failed to file required annual reports for three consecutive years, and earlier filings signed by the Brimelows contained false statements and omissions, the suit claims.

James is seeking restitution and penalties for the misuse of charitable assets, the rescission of all unlawful transactions, and the dissolution of VDARE.

James also is asking the court to permanently bar Peter and Lydia Brimelow from serving as officers, directors, or trustees of any New York charity, prohibit them from soliciting charitable contributions in the state, and appoint a receiver to safeguard VDARE’s remaining assets.

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