Anne Arundel County prosecutors have moved theft charges against a man who ran an Annapolis-area community association for almost a decade to a higher court.

Eric Epstein, the 63-year-old former president of the Oyster Harbor Citizens Association, is accused by county police of stealing $18,300 from the association to pay his cable and veterinarian bills. He was scheduled to face trial in district court today on felony theft and misdemeanor embezzlement charges. However, the state’s attorney took over the prosecution from police last week, shifting it to circuit court, which typically handles more serious cases.

Oyster Harbor, a close-knit beach community on the Chesapeake Bay, collects $400,000 a year from a surcharge tacked onto residents’ property taxes. The neighborhood, one of several dozen “Special Benefits Districts” in Anne Arundel County, uses the additional revenue to maintain its own streets, playgrounds and a private beach with views of the Bay Bridge.

The association ordered an outside audit of its finances when Epstein stepped down in 2022, amid controversy over a golf-cart trail he authorized in a stretch of fragile marshland. The project triggered a state environmental investigation and costly cleanup.

The Baltimore Banner thanks its sponsors. Become one.

Among the audit findings was that Epstein had transferred $270,000 in small installments into a separate bank account for pier maintenance. Not all the money went to aging piers, according to the audit, which uncovered $35,000 in cash withdrawals, a $6,000 promotional YouTube video and hundreds of dollars spent on alcohol for beach parties. The association board has turned over the findings to prosecutors.

A spokeswoman for the state’s attorney declined to comment.

Read More

Annapolis beach community roiled by president’s theft charges: ‘He betrayed us all’

Epstein, who has called the theft charges “bizarre” and insisted that everything he did was “aboveboard,” maintained in an earlier interview that every expense was proper. He could not be reached Monday, and his lawyer did not return calls.

The allegations have roiled Oyster Harbor, a historically Black summer retreat that developed during the era of segregated beaches. Now year-round and mostly white, the small enclave of 382 cottages and million-dollar homes has held onto the unhurried ways of an earlier Annapolis.

Some residents still support Epstein, a sailor and semiretired tech consultant who served as the association’s volunteer president for nine years and was popular for his happy hours. But others said they feel betrayed, including several longtime homeowners. They have complained that the association was billed for drainage work they still need done.

The association board, which has filed a $170,000 insurance claim, is negotiating to repay the county tens of thousands of dollars in what it has deemed “missing and misspent” tax funds, which by law can only go to clearly designated community projects.