The agreement between the resort’s court-appointed receiver and its former owner resolves a lawsuit related to the purchase of the ski area by Ariel Quiros in 2008, allegedly with investor funds that were not supposed to be touched.
A lawsuit accused the former attorneys for Ariel Quiros, Jay Peak’s past owner, of breach of fiduciary duty, allowing investors to be out millions of dollars with little hope of ever receiving the permanent U.S. residency they sought through the federal EB-5 visa program.
The settlement agreement ends years of litigation between the parties over the financial institution’s alleged role in an EB-5 investor fraud scandal in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
The reversal of the federal agency’s decision to shutter the state-run program in the wake of the Jay Peak scandal is good news for defrauded investors.
The receivership overseeing the Jay Peak and Burke Mountain ski areas will receive $5.2 million in a settlement approved this week, stemming from a lawsuit investors filed against attorneys they allege had a conflict of interest.
Attorney Russell Barr’s attempt to intervene on behalf of alleged defrauded investors in the criminal case against Jay Peak and AnC Bio Vermont developers is shot down.
Under the deal, the immigration attorney would have to sign a statement saying he relied on the state’s purported oversight of the scandal-plagued developments for ensuring no wrongdoing.
Ed Carroll and Mark Scribner simultaneously represented the interests of the Jay Peak corporation and immigrants seeking green cards. The attorneys allegedly aided Bill Stenger in duping investors.
A trial initially set for October of this year is now scheduled for April 2021 as attorneys cited the Covid-19 pandemic for the latest change due to the difficulty the virus currently creates in holding jury trials.
The ruling released Tuesday means Jay Peak’s former owner facing federal fraud charges must either hire a new attorney, apply for one at a taxpayers’ expense, or represent himself.
Lead attorney for Quiros cites a ‘breakdown in attorney-client relationship’ in request to withdraw his representation for Jay Peak’s former owner under criminal indictment.
Prosecutors said in May that the criminal investigation into the alleged fraud was ongoing, but no additional charges have been brought against any other defendants
Mont Saint-Sauveur International fraudulently accepted $18 million in immigrant investors’ funds, the Jay Peak receiver says.
State officials are seeking authority to sell off other properties that belonged to former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros.