Post by Logan on Apr 22, 2016 22:17:19 GMT -6
MONTPELIER - Gov. Peter Shumlin doubled down on Vermont's troubled EB-5 foreign investor program Wednesday despite last week's stunning federal takedown of two ski resorts in the Northeast Kingdom amid allegations of fraud against owners Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros.
Despite the scale of the scandal, one of the biggest cases of EB-5 fraud allegations in U.S. history, Shumlin said all the Vermonters he knows were behind the projects prior to last week's revelations.
"We all had huge enthusiasm for this effort, and anyone who tries to rewrite history on that is just not being truthful," Shumlin said. "You cannot and should not run from the fact that this was viewed by any reasonable person as a real opportunity for Vermont."
Stenger and Quiros are accused of misappropriating about $200 million of the roughly $400 million raised from foreign investors to build the Hotel Jay and other projects at Jay Peak, and the Q Burke hotel. Some $50 million went directly into Quiros' pocket for an apartment in New York, personal expenses, and to buy Jay Peak and Q Burke resorts without investors' knowledge, the government alleges.
Read more: www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2016/04/21/shumlin-still-believes-jay-peak-prospects/83306742/
Despite the scale of the scandal, one of the biggest cases of EB-5 fraud allegations in U.S. history, Shumlin said all the Vermonters he knows were behind the projects prior to last week's revelations.
"We all had huge enthusiasm for this effort, and anyone who tries to rewrite history on that is just not being truthful," Shumlin said. "You cannot and should not run from the fact that this was viewed by any reasonable person as a real opportunity for Vermont."
Stenger and Quiros are accused of misappropriating about $200 million of the roughly $400 million raised from foreign investors to build the Hotel Jay and other projects at Jay Peak, and the Q Burke hotel. Some $50 million went directly into Quiros' pocket for an apartment in New York, personal expenses, and to buy Jay Peak and Q Burke resorts without investors' knowledge, the government alleges.
Read more: www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2016/04/21/shumlin-still-believes-jay-peak-prospects/83306742/