Three years on, no criminal charges in Jay Peak fraud
No criminal charges have been brought in the Jay Peak Resort fraud scandal — three years after federal and state regulators filed civil charges against the developers, Ariel Quiros and Bill Stenger. Both men settled the civil charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission more than a year ago and came to an agreement with the state 10 months ago.
The SEC brought 52 civil counts of securities fraud in April 2016 against Quiros, Jay Peak’s owner, and Stenger, the CEO of the Northeast Kingdom ski resort. The federal regulators charged the businessmen with misusing $200 million in EB-5 foreign investor funds to develop hotels and condos at the resort, a hotel and athletic center at Burke Mountain, and an office building and a proposed biomedical facility in Newport.
Federal authorities said the two developers were running a “Ponzi-like” scheme, using new investor money to pay for previous projects. The SEC accused Quiros of stealing $50 million.
A day after the SEC case was filed, former Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell announced that the state had brought a separate case against Quiros and Stenger, alleging the developers had violated state civil securities laws.
Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2019/04/28/three-years-no-criminal-charges-jay-peak-fraud/