FBI agents continue to conduct interviews and analyze financial records, as part of a federal investigation into the alleged embezzlement of nearly $4 million from a Camden-based charity. Rusty Brace has admitted stealing the money over the course of his 17 years as president of United Mid-Coast Charities.
Brace has not been arrested, or charged, but liens have been placed on all of his properties and bank accounts, and Brace's lawyer says his client is a target of the federal probe. In Camden, where Brace was held in high esteem by the philanthropic and non-profit communities, the case has left a trail of unanswered questions.
A little over a year ago, Rusty Brace got some good news. The following summer, Brace and his organization, United Mid-Coast Charities, would be honored with another big donation at Cellardoor Winery's Pop the Cause gala. It's one of the top annual fundraising parties for non-profits on the Mid-coast.
"Rusty has been a leader in the Mid-coast community - an incredible face and voice and passion behind non-profits up in that area," says Bettina Dolton, Cellardoor's owner. In June, a few days before the party, Dolton appeared with Brace and other grant recipients on Love Maine Radio, a podcast produced by Maine Magazine. Brace, who was about to retire from UMCC, was asked what had inspired his work at the charity.
"A lot of people don't wake up in the morning, put their feet on the floor, and say, 'I can't wait to go out and ask for money!' I like to do that!" Brace said. The charity, said Brace, raises $1 million every 30 months or so. "One-hundred percent of all contributions are 100 percent distributed."
Forty-six percent of the grants, Brace noted, go to organizations serving disadvantaged youth and children, 24 percent goes to community groups, 18 percent to medical services and 12 percent to educational organizations. "So we know where the money is going. We do a good job of communicating where that money is going," he said.
Brace was revered in the region for his charitable work. The Camden Select Board honored him at its August meeting, after he retired. Steve Crane, UMCC's new president, vowed to continue Brace's "wonderful and dedicated" work. In September, after a week on the job, Crane and the board began to explore UMCC's grants for 2014.
"And we were just looking at the total amount of money," says Crane, "and it was maybe a little bit shy of what we needed or thought we would have. So I ended up talking to one of our directors and also a very strong supporter of UMCC."
That board member told Crane that he'd recently given the charity a check for $35,000. But Crane wasn't able to find it in the donation log.
"We talked about it some more and it became apparent that he had given us, over the last six months, two other checks that were not in our donor base," Crane says. "I asked him to send me a copy of the checks, front and back."
The board member e-mailed Crane the checks. This was on a Sunday. On Monday, Crane and another board member, who served as UMCC's treasurer, got together to look at the checks. "We saw the checks had been deposited in a bank that was not a UMCC bank," Crane says.
They took the checks down to the bank, The First, and showed them to officials there. "The bank realized something had gone wrong. And so they did some research and saw that other checks over the years had gone into that account that should not have gone into that account," Crane says. "So there was a certain moment there where you said, 'Oh my god.' "
The deposits stretched back over 15 years. Crane and the treasurer called Rusty Brace and asked to meet with him. "He came in, by himself," Crane says. "We sat down. We confronted him with the evidence. And he eventually confessed and he said, 'Yes, I did take that money.' He didn't seem to have much - what's the word for being? - shame or whatever. He just confessed and got up and left the room."
Official actions followed. United Mid-Coast Charities filed a lawsuit, seeking to recover the nearly $4 million Brace is accused of embezzling from the charity. A court placed liens on Brace's bank accounts and real estate holdings. And the FBI launched an investigation.
On the Mid-coast, meantime, where many thought they knew Rusty Brace, the case has left only questions. Did UMCC do everything it could to protect itself? How could Brace deposit checks, made out to the charity, into personal accounts? Were there warning signs about Rusty Brace that people missed?
Wednesday, we'll try to answer these questions, as our reporting on the Brace case continues.