Brooke Astor’s son indicted in New York

The son of New York philanthropist and former Mount Desert Island seasonal resident Brooke Astor has been indicted in New York on criminal charges based on his alleged mismanagement of her financial affairs, according to published reports.

Anthony Marshall, 83, has been instructed to appear before law enforcement officials today, The New York Times reported late Monday afternoon on its Web site. One of Astor’s former attorneys, Francis X. Morrissey Jr., also has been indicted based on similar allegations, according to the Times and The Associated Press. The specific charges against each man had not been publicly disclosed as of Monday evening.

Marshall was removed as his mother’s guardian last year after his son, Philip Marshall, filed suit against him. The younger Marshall claimed his father was neglecting Astor and taking advantage of his guardianship to enrich himself and his wife, former Mount Desert resident Charlene Marshall.

The Marshalls denied Philip’s allegations but, as part of a court-approved settlement last fall, returned some of the items they had given themselves from Astor’s estate, including paintings, family silver, jewelry, and a 10-carat diamond ring. Charlene Marshall had been given ownership of Astor’s former Cove End oceanfront property in Northeast Harbor but had to return it to her husband, to whom Astor gave the $6 million compound in 2003.

Astor died in August at the age of 105, having given away $200 million and leaving behind an estate valued at $198 million. She summered for decades on Mount Desert Island, where she gave away some of her late husband’s inherited wealth, but ill health and dementia prevented her from visiting her seasonal home for the past several years.