MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The federal receiver overseeing two Vermont ski resorts after their owner was accused of massive fraud said he hopes that he can sell the Jay Peak Resort by summer 2010 but that investors may incur a significant loss, according to a court filing this week.
Michael Goldberg filed an interim report Wednesday in federal court in Florida, stating that 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, he wrote, but is “fairly certain” that the investors “will incur a significant loss of their principal investment.”
VTDigger first reported on the court filing.
Foreigners invested in various 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 developments in the U.S.
Former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros, a Miami businessman, and former President William Stenger, of Newport, were accused in 2016 of misusing more than $200 million raised from foreign investors for various developments. They have reached settlements with the state and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and admitted no wrongdoing.
Goldberg wrote in his court filing that 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 for all the investors in the project, he wrote.
Quiros; Stenger; William Kelly, an adviser to Quiros; and Jong Weon Choi, a South Korean businessman, are now facing federal fraud charges over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant in Newport using foreign investors’ money.
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 the plant’s investor funds. Quiros also pleaded not guilty to money laundering. A phone message was left for Choi’s attorney seeking comment.
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