Attorney General James Sues VDARE for Rampant Self-Dealing and Misuse of Millions in Charitable Assets

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed a lawsuit against the VDARE Foundation (VDARE) and its leaders, founder Peter Brimelow and his wife, Lydia Brimelow, for years of self-dealing and abuse of charitable assets in violation of New York law. The lawsuit alleges that the Brimelows diverted at least $2 million in charitable funds from VDARE to benefit themselves and their families, while the organization repeatedly failed to submit required financial filings or submitted untruthful certifications. VDARE also continued to solicit donations even after publicly – and falsely – declaring it had shut down. Attorney General James is seeking to recover monetary damages and permanently bar the Brimelows from soliciting for or managing any New York charity. Attorney General James is also asking the court to dissolve the VDARE Foundation and place the charity’s remaining assets under court supervision to be redirected to legitimate charitable purposes.

“Charities are intended to serve the public, not to bankroll castles or pad personal fortunes,” said Attorney General James. “The Brimelows used VDARE like their personal piggy bank, draining millions in charitable assets to enrich themselves. New Yorkers deserve accountability, and we will not allow these bad actors to keep abusing the trust of their donors and the public. My office is taking action to ensure these funds are used for their intended charitable purpose, remove the Brimelows from control, and shut down this fraudulent organization.”

VDARE was originally established in 1999 as a New York charitable nonprofit under the name Lexington Research Institute, Ltd. Although it presented itself as a charitable research organization, in practice, its primary activity was operating VDARE.com, a blog dedicated to opposing immigration. From its inception, VDARE’s board was limited only to the Brimelows, their family members, and close associates – a structure that enabled years of unchecked self-dealing.

An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) 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 castle was purportedly acquired for VDARE 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. These arrangements, structured by Lydia Brimelow’s father, were rubber-stamped by a board dominated by the Brimelows.

After transferring ownership of the castle to their family’s out-of-state companies, the Brimelows set up a rent-back 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. Lydia Brimelow also pledged all of VDARE’s assets as collateral for a loan from a company managed by her father. Any purported board review of these transactions was meaningless because the board itself was dominated by the Brimelows and family members.

When OAG began its investigation in 2022, the Brimelows repeatedly sought to obstruct it. They ignored lawful investigatory subpoenas, withheld records, and forced the OAG to go to court simply to obtain basic documents. Even after being ordered to comply by a judge, they continued to resist. 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.

Attorney General James alleges these obstructionist tactics were part of a calculated effort to avoid accountability and cover up years of wrongdoing that continued even while OAG’s investigation was underway. Indeed, as OAG’s scrutiny increased, the Brimelows accelerated their asset-stripping: inflating monthly “rent” payments from $6,000 to $33,000 in just four months, releasing companies under their control from more than $1 million in mortgage obligations, and quietly transferring the remaining shares of the castle to an out-of-state for-profit company believed to be controlled by Lydia Brimelow’s father.

In 2024, VDARE publicly announced it was shutting down and closed its website. By this point, millions of dollars in charitable assets had been funneled to family-controlled entities, leaving only $150,000 in VDARE’s accounts. In total, VDARE sent:

• Over $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; and
• $230,000 to Lydia Brimelow’s father for “consulting services,” in an unapproved related-party transaction.

In addition, when the Brimelows sold their remaining castle interest to the company linked to Lydia Brimelow’s father, they accepted just $168,000 – despite a prior appraisal valuing it at more than $600,000. As part of its investigation, OAG reviewed communications in which Lydia Brimelow and her father acknowledged the risk of regulatory scrutiny and agreed to “reassess” the property’s value downward, deliberately structuring the deal to evade OAG review and approval.

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.

Attorney General James is seeking restitution and penalties for the Brimelows’ misuse of charitable assets, the rescission of all unlawful transactions – including the castle transfer – and the dissolution of VDARE. Attorney General James is also 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 and ensure that what remains is distributed to legitimate charities.

This matter is being handled by Civil Rights Section Chief Rick Sawyer and Charities Enforcement Section Chief Emily Stern with Assistant Attorneys General Rachel Finn and Benjamin Liebowitz and Research Analyst Heather-Destiny Konan. The Civil Rights Bureau, led by Bureau Chief Sandra Park, and the Charities Bureau, led by Bureau Chief James Sheehan, are both part of the Division for Social Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.