Fort Lauderdale Attorney Hopes to Sell Vermont Resorts Hit by Fraud Next Summer
Court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg and an investment bank have been marketing Jay Peak for months.
October 21, 2019 at 12:07 PM
3 minute read
The Fort Lauderdale attorney overseeing two Vermont ski resorts after their owner was accused of massive fraud said he hopes to sell the Jay Peak Resort by next summer, but investors may incur a significant loss, according to a court filing.
Court-appointed receiver Michael Goldberg, chair of Akerman's fraud and recovery practice, filed an interim report Wednesday in federal court in Florida, stating he and an investment bank have been marketing Jay Peak for seven months.
About a dozen potential buyers have expressed interest, Goldberg wrote. He is not sure how much the resort will sell for but is "fairly certain" that the investors "will incur a significant loss of their principal investment." VTDigger first reported on the court filing.
The losses were expected. Foreigners invested in developments at Jay Peak through the EB-5 visa program, which helps them obtain permanent residency by investing at least $500,000 in job-creating U.S. developments.
Former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros of Miami and and former company president William Stenger of Newport, Vermont, were accused in 2016 of misusing more than $200 million raised from foreign investors. They reached settlements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Vermont with no admissions of wrongdoing.
Goldberg's court filing said he will not try to sell the Burke Mountain Hotel at Burke Mountain Resort at this point "because the sales price based on current financial performance would be extremely low." Since construction, the hotel has not generated enough jobs to qualify all of the investors for green cards.
Quiros, Stenger, Quiros adviser William Kelly and South Korean businessman Jong Weon Choi face federal fraud charges over a failed plan to build a biotechnology center in Newport using foreign investors' money.
The AnC Bio Vermont project was supposed to raise $118 million to create a biotech facility and business in a town of just over 4,000 on the Canadian border in an economically challenged region of Vermont known as the Northeast Kingdom.
From 2012 to 2016, the indictment said about 169 investors kicked in about $93 million. The money allegedly was put it in a Florida-based corporation that was used for other needs, such as loan payments. The defendants concealed they "lacked the money to construct and begin operations."
Quiros, Stenger and Kelly pleaded not guilty in May to engaging in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, participating in that conspiracy, wire fraud and concealing facts about job projections and the ability to generate revenue with the investors' funds. Quiros also pleaded not guilty to money laundering. There was no response by deadline from Choi's attorney.
Lisa Rathke reports for the Associated Press.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllHow Much Coverage Do You Really Have? Valuation and Loss Settlement Provisions in Commercial Property Policies
10 minute readThe Importance of 'Speaking Up' Regarding Lease Renewal Deadlines for Commercial Tenants and Landlords
6 minute readMeet the Attorneys—and Little Known Law—Behind $20M Miami Dispute
Trending Stories
- 1Read the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome,' DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
- 2Voir Dire Voyeur: I Find Out What Kind of Juror I’d Be
- 3When It Comes to Local Law 97 Compliance, You’ve Gotta Have (Good) Faith
- 4Legal Speak at General Counsel Conference East 2024: Virginia Griffith, Director of Business Development at OutsideGC
- 5Legal Speak at General Counsel Conference East 2024: Bill Tanenbaum, Partner & Chair, AI & Data Law Practice Group at Moses Singer
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250