Indicted Astor son not under scrutiny in Maine

MOUNT DESERT – Prosecutors in Maine said Wednesday that the indictment in New York this week of Brooke Astor’s son does not mean he is expected to face similar charges in Maine.

Anthony Marshall, 83, was indicted Tuesday in New York on charges that he exploited his mother’s frail health and used his position as manager of her financial affairs to enrich himself. The 2003 transfer to Marshall of Astor’s oceanfront Cove End estate in the Maine village of Northeast Harbor falls within the timeframe of the alleged illegal activity cited in the indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

Officials with the Hancock County District Attorney’s Office and with the Maine Attorney General’s Office each said Wednesday that they have not looked into Marshall’s handling of Astor’s estate in Maine because they have received no complaints to investigate.

David Loughran, spokesman for the AG’s office, said officials there would have to either receive a complaint or some other strong indication of alleged illegal activity before opening an investigation. He said the alleged behavior in New York does not mean Marshall may have engaged in similar behavior in Maine.

“We’ve not received any complaints against Mr. Marshall,” Loughran said.

Michael Povich, district attorney for Hancock County, said Wednesday that he has received no referrals or requests regarding an investigation into the transfer of the Northeast Harbor property. He declined to speculate on the chances of such an inquiry being opened.

“Nothing has come to this office,” Povich said.

In Tuesday’s indictment, Morgenthau alleges that Anthony Marshall and attorney Francis X. Morrissey “exploited Brooke Astor’s diminished mental capacity” for financial gain between December 2001 and September 2007. Morrissey, who oversaw some of Astor’s legal work during that period, also was indicted Tuesday in New York on similar charges.

The indictment indicated that Marshall “used Brooke Astor’s funds to pay expenses related to real property in Maine that was no longer owned or being used by Brooke Astor.”

According to documents on file at the Hancock County Registry of Deeds in Ellsworth, Marshall acquired the $6 million Cove End estate from his mother in May 2003. A few months later, he transferred ownership of the property to his wife, former Mount Desert resident Charlene Marshall.

As part of a civil settlement reached last fall about Anthony Marshall’s handling of his mother’s finances, Charlene Marshall was required to give Cove End back to her husband.

Charlene Marshall married Anthony Marshall in 1992, two years after she divorced Paul E. Gilbert, a local Episcopal priest.

The criminal charges in New York stem from a civil suit that Marshall’s son, Philip Marshall, filed against his father last year. In the suit, Philip Marshall accused his father of neglecting Astor and enriching himself at Astor’s expense.

Marshall denied the allegations but in last fall’s court-approved settlement agreed to relinquish his position as manager of Astor’s affairs and to return several expensive items he and his wife had acquired from his mother, including paintings and jewelry.

Astor was the grande dame of New York high society for several decades, during which time she gave away $200 million of her late husband’s inherited money, some of it to institutions on Mount Desert Island. She died in August at the age of 105.

Astor’s frail condition had prevented her from visiting her Cove End mansion overlooking the Northeast Harbor Fleet yacht club for the last several summers of her life. Anthony and Charlene Marshall were in Northeast Harbor as recently as last month, where Anthony Marshall spoke at a memorial service for his mother at St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea.

Bill Trotter may be reached at btrotter@bangordailynews.net or 460-6318.