01945 Winter 2022

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probation, surrender their passports,
not apply for any loans without the
approval of the court, not register
or facilitate the registration of any
businesses without the approval of the
court, not encumber any real estate
without the approval of the court, and
report any contact with law enforcement
within 24 hours.
Bushell, a dual citizen of the U.S.
and Greece, was also ordered not to
obtain any other travel documents
while the case is pending.
"Brazen, criminal behavior"
“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
nonprofit — by assisting with specific,
legitimate expenses during the
pandemic,” said Rollins in a statement.
“Pandemic relief funds are not ‘free
money’ – they are a lifeline designed to
help business owners and non-profit
leaders experiencing real economic
hardship . . . Hard-working people
deserve these funds.”
In the affidavit, Chad Oakes, an FBI
agent who investigated Bushell and
Stockton, wrote that “Bushell claimed
that he was an Orthodox Christian
monk and that he had trained
at a monastery on Mount Athos in
Greece” but, Oakes said, investigators
were unable to confirm either of those
statements.
When CARES Act funds became
available in April 2020, Bushell and
Stockton allegedly began a conspiracy
that continued until August 2022,
Oakes said.
The conspiracy consisted of the pair
allegedly conspiring to “obtain EIDL
and PPP funds by submitting fraudulent
applications and to use those
funds for personal and/or non-permitted
purposes,” Oakes wrote.
Between April 2020 and June
2022, Bushell and Stockton allegedly
submitted loan applications, supporting
documentation, and, with respect
to EIDLs, loan increase requests to
the Small Business Association and
to Payment Protection Plan lenders,
including Marblehead Bank and
Greylock Credit Union, according to
What is Mount Athos?
Brian Andrew Bushell says he
became a monk when he visited the
Vatopedi Monestary at Mount Athos
in Greece in December 2010.
While there is a mountain called
Mount Athos (6,700 feet high), the
term refers more broadly to a peninsula
in northeastern Greece that juts about
31 miles into the Aegean Sea. The
region is governed by a group of monasteries
called the Athonite Community
and operates autonomously from the
rest of Greece, with the consent of the
European Union. The non-religious
aspects of the region are managed by a
governor appointed by the Ecumenical
Patriarch of Constantinople. That
patriarch is currently Bartholomew
I, who is recognized as the greatest
among equals in the Eastern Orthodox
religion.
There are about 20 monastic
communities on the peninsula which
has been home to Christian religious
communities for more than 1,200
years. These communities have a variety
of practices and traditions, but most
live an ascetic life – characterized by
abstinence and contemplation. Woman
are banned from the mountainside and
the areas controlled by the monasteries
and are subject a year imprisonment for
trespassing. The area is currently home
to an estimated 2,000 monks.
Bushell has stated that he became a
monk at the declaration of an Abbot
of the Vatopedi Monastery and that he
was a member of that Athos community
until August 2017. An FBI search
of his travel history confirmed his December
2010 visit but indicated that he
“…spent little extended time outside of
the United States following that trip.”
The Vatopedi community is not
without its own controversy. Author
Michael Lewis (Moneyball, Liar’s
Poker, etc.), identified some questionable
real estate dealings between senior
Greek officials and the leadership of
the monastery. Several Abbots were
embroiled in criminal investigations
from 2008 through 2015, but ultimately
none of the leadership was convicted.
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FRAUD, continued on page 12