A former Eastport property owner, Patricia Lindau, who recently lost two of the city's historic downtown buildings to a foreclosure auction after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, pleaded not guilty to charges of larceny and embezzlement at her arraignment in Massachusetts on July 21 at the Newburyport District Court. On July 9 Essex District Attorney (DA) Jonathan Blodgett had filed charges of two counts of larceny and two counts of embezzlement by a tax preparer against Lindau. At the arraignment, Lindau's attorney, Carmine Lepore, filed a motion to dismiss the charges, which was denied by Judge Jane Prince.
     The Essex DA's office requested $10,000 cash bail, but the judge released Lindau on personal recognizance with a bail watch and ordered her to have no contact with the two victims. Under a bail watch, if a person fails to appear in court they can be held without bail. Her next court date in Massachusetts is scheduled for August 27, when the motion to dismiss will be considered and a pretrial hearing will be held.
     The Essex DA's office launched an investigation after receiving complaints from two former clients of Lindau's payroll services firm Northeast Abacus Inc. The complaint alleges that Lindau stole an estimated $60,300 from two small businesses, located in Danvers and Haverhill, when she failed to pay their state taxes.
     Larceny carries a maximum penalty of five years in state prison, and embezzlement carries a maximum penalty of three years in state prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
     The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges are possible, including against her husband, Kjell Morgan Lindau. The couple has a property in Newburgh, Maine, where ostensibly they have been living. They owned a property in Newburyport, Mass., for many years until it was sold in 2014.
     The Lindaus and Northeast Abacus allegedly failed to make tax payments to the Internal Revenue Service and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on behalf of their clients, many of them restaurants, some of whom had used the company for many years.
     The Lindaus are also involved in proceedings with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine. In their bankruptcy filing the Lindaus state that they estimate they owe between 50 99 creditors an amount between $1 million and $10 million. The creditor list includes 61 names, including restaurants, municipalities and a range of other businesses.
     Over $1.28 million is owed to the 20 largest creditors, ranging from $217,550 to a restaurant in Massachusetts, to Roof Systems of Maine in Bangor for $25,000 still owed on roof work done recently on the Eastport buildings. Also included is a $25,000 CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program loan made to the Lindaus' company in April of this year through Camden National Bank.
     Bankruptcy documents filed by the Lindaus on July 9 in Maine listed that they were each receiving Social Security payments of $1,820 and $989 per month. Also listed is a gross income from wages of $93,334 for 2019 and $70,000 for 2018. In 2019 their business had a gross income of $163,700 and in 2018 a gross income of $153,657 and rental income of $35,845.
     Not included in the list of creditors are the six loans made by Camden National Bank to the Lindaus totaling $788,450, four of which used the two Eastport buildings as collateral, and one of which used the Newburgh house as collateral. On July 14 the bank auctioned the two Eastport buildings, 73 and 75 Water Street, turning over ownership to Eastporter Ross Furman with his winning bid of $295,000. The Lindaus had noted in their court documents on June 29 that they had planned to use the proceeds of selling their Eastport and Newburgh properties "to make further payments to debtors' creditors over the next three to five years."