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May 29, 2018

Brooklin Boat Yard's former CFO sentenced in $815K embezzlement

Photo / Peter Van Allen Former Brooklin Boat Yard CFO Steven Nygren was sentenced to seven years and seven months in federal prison for stealing $815,000 from the business.

Former Brooklin Boat Yard CFO Steven Nygren was sentenced to seven years and seven months in federal prison for stealing $815,000 from the business.

The Bangor Daily News reported, that Nygren, 51, of Salem, Mass., also was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor to five years with supervised release and ordered to pay more than $815,000 restitution. Nygren spent about half the money on a lease-to-own agreement at the Brooklin General Store, in which he is no longer involved.

“If Brooklin Boat Yard went down, the community would just about die,” U.S. District Judge John Woodcock said at the sentencing.

Boatyard owner Steve White told the judge Nygren stole from a $500,000 line of credit the business had with Camden National Bank.

Nygren pleaded guilty in June 2017 in U.S. District Court in Bangor to charges of bank fraud, credit card fraud and tax evasion. The embezzlement occurred in 2014 and 2015. He was arrested in September 2015. At that time, he was operating the Brooklin General Store.

Brooklin Boat Yard specializes in wooden boat design, construction, repair and maintenance.

'Boatbuilding Capital of the World'

The original, 150-year-old Brooklin General Store, located in the heart of this small community, was demolished in 2016 to make way for a new building within the same footprint. Under new ownership, the general store re-opened in May 2017, with a design that aimed to achieve a similar general store feel but with modern systems, amenities such as a front porch and flexible spaces.

Brooklin calls itself the "Boatbuilding Capital of the World" due to the presence of builders like Brooklin Boat Yard, Atlantic Boat Co., Brion Rieff Boat Builders, Hylan & Brown, Eric Dow Boat Shop and North Brooklin Boats, as well as marinas, boat designers, sailmakers, mooring services, marine photography and WoodenBoat Publications Inc. and its boatbuilding school.

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