Monk sues DOJ for falsely accusing him of stealing $3.6M in COVID-relief funds to buy Swiss watch, expensive wine

A monk from Massachusetts asserts that unfounded accusations regarding his authenticity as a cleric and extravagant spending led to federal charges of COVID-relief fraud totaling millions — charges that were ultimately dismissed — yet his church and personal reputation have not recovered, new legal documents reveal.

Rev. Father Andrew Bushell, an Orthodox monk affiliated with St. Nicholas Church, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, FBI agents, and the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. This action follows his 2022 arrest under allegedly fraudulent pretenses connected to a supposed $3.6 million fraud scheme, with those charges being dropped a year later, as indicated in a federal lawsuit submitted last Friday.

Together with Tracey Stockton, his church’s general counsel, Bushell faced allegations of misusing funds for various luxury purchases, including $40,000 on antique furniture, $90,000 on audio-visual equipment, a $40,000 Swiss watch, a $7,000 Goyard handbag, premium wine, and additional luxury items valued at $2,400.

In an exclusive statement to The Post, Bushell remarked that those involved in the case should face imprisonment for the damage inflicted upon him, which has shaken the trust of his donors and accumulated legal expenses, while also stalling the construction of a monastic shrine and place of worship.

He emphasized, “Rachael Rollins, the former Massachusetts US Attorney, weaponized the DOJ and FBI to fabricate a series of lies aimed at dismantling St. Nicholas, me, and intimidating devout Orthodox Christians.”

The monk’s legal filing includes claims of religious freedom violations, conspiracy, retaliation, and other allegations, particularly after the Trump administration recognized the broader issue of anti-Christian bias and “weaponized” prosecutions by the modern DOJ.

According to the civil suit, heavily armed federal agents executed a “military-style, pre-dawn raid” on the St. Nicholas Church, apprehending Bushell while he was in prayer on October 13, 2022.

Stockton stated that the nature and timing of the arrest appeared designed to inflict psychological pressure and public humiliation rather than serve any valid law enforcement need. The lawsuit claims he was denied essential religious items such as his prayer rope, rosary, or Bible while detained, and was compelled to eat food that contradicted his monastic dietary rules.

Rollins, who resigned amid allegations of significant abuse of power by federal ethics oversight in 2023, stated at the time that Bushell exhibited “brazen, criminal behavior,” leveraging taxpayer-funded support inappropriately.

After resigning on May 19, 2023, she was implicated in a DOJ inspector general report the following day for improperly interfering in the Suffolk County district attorney race. Later, in September 2025, she accepted a public reprimand by the Massachusetts Bar for her conduct.

Joseph Bonavolonta, the former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office and a party mentioned in the lawsuit, claimed that Bushell was “a purported Orthodox Christian monk” who allegedly spent exorbitantly on exclusive memberships and luxury items.

Bushell countered that the allegations were packed with “defamatory and misleading distortions” regarding church funds, asserting that the charges misrepresented expenditures like $18 bottles of wine for church events and misconstrued clerical memberships provided by donors to support the church’s mission.

According to him, many of the contested items were gifts, and he had sought federal funding specifically to renovate his chapel and develop a monastic brewery adjacent to it.

Bushell elaborated, “My monastic journey commenced when I enrolled at the Pontifical Gregorian University in the Vatican at 19, faced the common struggle among Orthodox seminarians over desires for family, and matured over the last eight years in an Athonite monastery, all without a break while tackling challenges to build a shrine dedicated to St. Nicholas.”

On November 8, 2023, the feds dismissed all charges against Bushell in a brief court document citing the action as “in the interests of justice,” providing no further details about the decision.

Stockton noted in the legal filing, “The DOJ had no choice but to dismiss all charges after recognizing that Father Andrew was sincere in his faith and a legitimate Orthodox monk, and that neither he nor the religious organizations he leads were fraudulent.”

While Rollins and Assistant US Attorney David Holcomb, who contributed to the prosecution, are not named in the suit, Stockton criticized Holcomb for being misled by the flawed investigative efforts of the bureau.

Stockton also emphasized that the overarching nature of the prosecution against both Bushell and herself poses a significant threat to every American.

Bushell and Stockton’s lawsuit asserts that the false charges originated from longstanding grievances held by Marblehead officials regarding their belief that he and his church were fraudulently representing themselves as legitimate religious entities for tax benefits.

As claimed in the suit, “Marblehead officials fabricated allegations to the FBI asserting that Father Andrew was not a legitimate monk and that none of the defendant organizations were authentic religious institutions.”

“These insidious lies served their purpose,” the suit claims.

Prior to these allegations, the town had consistently obstructed Bushell in his efforts to open a monastic brewery and erect the shrine, attempting to block him from acquiring building permits and rejecting necessary electrical work, according to court documents.

Even though the charges have been dismissed, the residual impact of the federal fraud allegations lingers, as the lawsuit states.

Support from key donors has waned, and Bushell’s reputation has been irrevocably damaged, the legal documents allege.

It is alleged that the charges aimed to prevent him from practicing his faith in Marblehead, to ruin his life, and to obstruct him from ministering according to his beliefs.

He is seeking unspecified damages, all of which will support his ministry if the lawsuit is successful.

Requests for comments from the DOJ, FBI, and Marblehead town officials went unanswered on Monday. Attempts to reach Rollins and Bonavolonta also yielded no responses.