Town & Gown: Maria Petrou, Paul Cronin, and the Evolution of the “Nick” Allegations, Foreclosure, and Eviction

For years, Dr. Myria Petrou’s parents, Maria and Petros Petrou, were deeply integrated into the family’s life in Ann Arbor. They lived with the family after relocating from Cyprus, helped care for the children, attended holidays and church gatherings together, and remained closely connected to the family’s social and professional circle.

Brad and Myria first met Paul Cronin and Aine Kelly when they began their radiology residencies at the University of Michigan in the early 2000s. At the time, Aine had recently completed a cardiothoracic radiology fellowship, and Paul joined shortly thereafter. Both had trained in the United Kingdom before joining the University of Michigan radiology department.

Over the following years, the relationship between the families grew increasingly close both professionally and personally.

During the years Maria and Petros lived with the family in Ann Arbor, Paul and Aine regularly attended major holiday dinners and gatherings at the Foerster home, often with their two children, who were of similar age to the Foerster children. Maria frequently prepared and hosted these family meals and celebrations.

The relationship extended well beyond the workplace into shared childcare years, holidays, professional discussions, and personal confidences developed over more than a decade. Paul and Aine also repeatedly discussed tensions and conflicts involving University of Michigan Radiology leadership, including Dr. Ella Kazerooni, who was Paul and Aine’s direct supervisor within the department.

The record reflects that these relationships were not casual or peripheral. They were longstanding, overlapping, and deeply personal.

Over time, however, the dynamics surrounding the family materially changed.

As Petros’ Parkinson’s disease with dementia (diagnosed at Michigan Medicine) and overall health progressively deteriorated, tensions within the household increased. Myria attempted to balance clinical responsibilities, childcare, and the care of her increasingly disabled father while the family simultaneously managed major financial and housing obligations in Ann Arbor.

Despite periodic reconciliation, the record reflects growing strain and increasingly erratic interactions surrounding housing, finances, caregiving, and family control.

The chronology became markedly more concerning in 2016–2017.

While visiting Cyprus with the children during the summer of 2016, Maria reportedly made inquiries at local English-speaking schools concerning enrollment of the children without first discussing the matter with Brad or Myria.

Months later, after Myria became pregnant with the couple’s third child in December 2016, the family conflict escalated significantly. Maria strongly opposed the pregnancy, and communication between mother and daughter deteriorated.

The significance of the chronology is not simply that the family relationships deteriorated. The significance is how quickly a private family dispute evolved into a criminal investigation involving frozen bank accounts, search warrants, foreclosure proceedings, and later overlapping institutional disputes.

At the end of January 2017, Maria and Petros went to the Ann Arbor Police Department and reported their daughter and son-in-law to police concerning financial matters tied to accounts Myria had managed for years under a broad power of attorney. Shortly afterward, the family’s PNC Bank accounts were frozen.

During the second half of February 2017, Myria suffered a miscarriage at approximately 12 weeks gestation. Subsequent chromosomal and structural analysis reportedly identified no fetal abnormalities.

The resulting police investigation triggered additional search warrants, including warrants directed to the Bank of Ann Arbor, which held the construction loan for the family’s newly constructed home. The investigation also triggered prolonged financial instability and ultimately foreclosure proceedings involving the property.

During the investigation, research coordinator Duaa Altaee recorded her conversations with Maria, which materially undermined Maria’s allegations against Brad and Myria. Maria subsequently withdrew her allegations.

Within days, however, an unidentified individual known as “Nick” surfaced and began making allegations involving Paul and claims that Brad and Myria were extorting him. Paul later denied under oath that he knew “Nick” or that Brad and Myria were extorting him. Shortly afterward, Maria renewed her allegations with law enforcement.

Later records indicate the prosecutor ultimately dismissed the matter as civil rather than criminal after a one-year police investigation. Following the August 2017 sheriff’s sale by the Bank of Ann Arbor, the family ultimately lost the home and was evicted in May 2018, later relocating to California. In September 2018, Maria later testified under oath that she never accused Brad or Myria of embezzlement.

At the same time, professional and institutional relationships surrounding the family also changed.

During early 2017, after the police investigation had begun, Brad and Myria heard Maria in the background during a phone conversation with Paul and Aine concerning the family’s financial and housing situation. Maria, Paul, and Aine later denied being in contact during that period.

In fall 2018, after Brad filed suit against Paul Cronin in federal court regarding Paul’s statements concerning alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Maria sent Brad and Myria a handwritten letter in Greek referencing Paul.

Maria’s statement translated from Greek:

“So Paul was a double agent at least in the beginning. What happened afterwards I do not know.”

The overlap between personal relationships, University structures, police activity, financial collapse, and later federal-record chronology would continue for years.

The question raised by the chronology is not whether families experience conflict. Families do.

The question is whether the sequence of events reflected in the record — involving overlapping personal, institutional, financial, police, and University relationships — is ordinary.

The record does not fully answer that question.

But the chronology exists.

Related material:

Our Lives Before the Archive
A personal and family background chronology documenting Brad and Myria’s life before the events that later became part of the public records archive.

Recorded April 2017 Meeting – Duaa Altaee / Maria Petrou Playback, Transcript Excerpt, and Emergence of “Nick” in Ongoing AAPD Investigation
Archival post examining recorded April 2017 conversations involving Duaa Altaee and Maria Petrou, including transcript excerpts and the subsequent emergence of “Nick” during the ongoing Ann Arbor Police Department investigation.

Maria Petrou Note Links Duaa Altaee to FBI, Merrill Lynch, and Police Investigation
Archival post examining a handwritten note by Maria Petrou referencing Duaa Altaee, the FBI, Merrill Lynch, and the Ann Arbor police investigation during the period surrounding the family’s foreclosure and eviction.

Related Reporting

Brad Foerster, MD PhD

Brad Foerster is a FOIA advocate documenting requests, transparency disputes, and accountability investigations involving public agencies, universities, police oversight, and Russia-Gate related inquiries. His work compiles original documents, timelines, and analysis of public records and institutional responses. Brad is also a board-certified radiologist, author of Town & Gown, and has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles. Brad lives in Potomac, Maryland with his family and is active in the Montgomery County Medical Society and the Takoma Park U.S. & World History Book Club.