People v. VDARE Found., Inc.

2026 NY Slip Op 31040(U)
New York Supreme Court, New York County·Decided March 17, 2026·No. Index No. 452397/2025·Unpublished·Sabrina Kraus

Opinion

People v VDARE Found., Inc.

2026 NY Slip Op 31040(U)

March 17, 2026

Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 452397/2025 Judge: Sabrina Kraus

Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service.

This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication.

file:///LRB-ALB-FS1/Vol1/ecourts/Process/covers/NYSUP.4523972025.NEW_YORK.002.LBLX038_TO.html[03/25/2026 3:45:49 PM]

FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/17/2026 03:27 PM INDEX NO. 452397/2025 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 29 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/17/2026

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY

PRESENT: HON. SABRINA KRAUS PART 57M Justice

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 452397/2025 PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW MOTION DATE 12/18/2025 YORK,

MOTION SEQ. NO. 002 Plaintiff,

-v-

DECISION + ORDER ON

VDARE FOUNDATION, INC., PETER BRIMELOW, and LYDIA BRIMELOW MOTION

Defendants.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X

The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 002) 1, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 28 were read on this motion to/for DISMISSAL .

BACKGROUND

The Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) commenced this action against VDARE Foundation, Inc. (“VDARE”), Peter Brimelow and Lydia Brimelow seeking, inter alia, a permanent injunction, restitution, and judicial dissolution of VDARE for the defendants’ alleged violations of: the Not-for-Profit Corporations Law (“N-PCL”); Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (“EPTL”); and Executive Law.

ALLEGED FACTS AND RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY The factual allegations of this case are referenced in the Court’s March 5, 2026, decision and order and will not be repeated here (see NYSCEF Doc No. 25 [denying VDARE’s motion to dismiss pursuant to CPLR § 3211(a)(7)]).

452397/2025 PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY Page 1 of 12 GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK vs. VDARE FOUNDATION, INC. ET AL Motion No. 002

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PENDING MOTION

On February 27, 2026, Peter and Lydia Brimelow (collectively, “Defendants”) moved to dismiss the first, second, third, fourth, seventh, eighth and ninth causes of action as against them pursuant to CPLR § 3211(a)(7) (NYSCEF Doc No. 19 [mot. seq. 002]).

The motion was marked submitted on March 16, 2026, and the Court reserved decision.

The Court denies the motion in its entirety for the reasons set forth below.

DISCUSSION

A court will dismiss a claim when the movant demonstrates that “the pleading fails to state a cause of action” (CPLR § 3211(a)(7)). Courts “give the complaint a liberal construction, accept the allegations as true and provide [the nonmovant] with the benefit of every favorable inference” (Nomura Home Equity Loan, Inc., Series 2006-FM2 v Nomura Credit & Capital, Inc., 30 NY3d 572, 582 [2017]). Courts do not weigh “[w]hether a plaintiff can ultimately establish its allegations” as part of the calculus in determining a motion to dismiss (EBC I, Inc. v Goldman, Sachs & Co., 5 NY3d 11, 19 [2005]). A court “merely examines the adequacy of the pleadings,” unlike a motion for summary judgment in which the court “searches the record and assesses the sufficiency of the parties’ evidence” (Davis v Boeheim, 24 NY3d 262, 268 [2014]).

The Court Denies the Motion to Dismiss the First and Second Causes of Action Defendants make no argument in support of the dismissal of the first and second causes of action as against them for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of EPTL § 8-1.4 as Defendants only adopt the arguments made by VDARE in support of its own motion to dismiss which do not include dismissal of these causes of action (see NYSCEF Doc No. 20; see also NYSCEF Doc No. 17, at 1 [VDARE memorandum in support]).

Regarding the first cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty, N-PCL § 717 provides:

452397/2025 PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY Page 2 of 12 GENERAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK vs. VDARE FOUNDATION, INC. ET AL Motion No. 002

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(a) Directors, officers and key persons shall discharge the duties of their respective positions in good faith and with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances . . . .

N-PCL § 720 provides:

(a) An action may be brought against one or more directors, officers, or key persons of a corporation to procure a judgment for the following relief:

(1) To compel the defendant to account for his official conduct in the following cases:

(A) The neglect of, or failure to perform, or other violation of his duties in the management and disposition of corporate assets committed to his charge.

(B) The acquisition by himself, transfer to others, loss or waste of corporate assets due to any neglect of, or failure to perform, or other violation of his duties.

N-PCL § 720(b) authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action pursuant to subsection (a).

The Complaint adequately pleads violations of N-PCL §§ 717 and 720 as the Brimelows allegedly used VDARE’s funds for their own personal benefit by transferring VDARE’s funds to BBB, Lydia Brimelow’s for-profit corporation, and by purchasing the Castle with VDARE’s funds for use as their own personal residency (e.g. NYSCEF Doc No. 1 ¶¶ 105–07, 109). The Complaint also alleges that several transactions constituted a waste of VDARE’s corporate assets as Lydia Brimelow may have overbid on the Castle (see id. ¶¶ 70–79) and she may also have overpaid for business advice provided to VDARE from her father (see id. ¶¶ 84–86). The Court thus denies the motion to dismiss the first cause of action as the Court must afford the allegations in the Complaint with “the benefit of every favorable inference” (Nomura Home Equity Loan, Inc., Series 2006-FM2 v Nomura Credit & Capital, Inc., 30 NY3d 572, 582 [2017]).

Regarding the second cause of action, EPTL § 8-1.4 provides, in relevant part:

(a) For the purposes of this section, “trustee” means (1) any individual, group of individuals, executor, trustee, corporation or other legal entity holding and administering property for charitable purposes, whether pursuant to any will, trust, other instrument or agreement, court appointment, or otherwise pursuant to law,

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over which the attorney general has enforcement or supervisory powers, (2) any non-profit corporation organized under the laws of this state for charitable purposes[.]

***

(d) Every trustee shall file with the attorney general, within six months after any property held by him or her or any income therefrom is required to be applied to charitable purposes, a copy of the instrument providing for his or her title, powers and duties; provided, however, that any trustee currently registered with the department of law pursuant to article 7-A of the executive law shall be deemed to have complied with this paragraph. If any property held by a trustee or any income therefrom is required to be applied to charitable purposes at the time this section becomes effective, the filing shall be made within six months thereafter.

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