Burke Mountain EB-5 investors to receive $183,322 each from sale and settlement

More than 120 foreign investors who took part in the renovation of Burke Mountain Ski Resort, only to become victims of a well-publicized scandal that shook Vermont to its core, are in line to receive a portion of their invested funds. This comes after a recent sale of the resort and a prior settlement with a financial entity, which will see attorney Michael Goldberg, who has been overseeing the resort’s receivership in the Northeast Kingdom for over a decade, distributing $183,322 to each of the 121 EB-5 investors associated with the ski area.

These investors each contributed a minimum of $500,000 through the federal visa program in hopes of securing permanent U.S. residency, or green cards, contingent on their investment in the resort creating specific job opportunities. However, the landscape changed when the developers came under scrutiny from regulators who accused them of misappropriating funds from EB-5 investors for not only the Burke Mountain project but also for improvements and expansions at the nearby Jay Peak ski resort and initiatives in Newport.

Jay Peak was previously sold for $76 million, with EB-5 investors connected to projects at that ski area also set to benefit from the proceeds of that sale. In April, Goldberg finalized a deal to sell the Burke Mountain resort for $11.5 million to Bear Den Partners LLC, a consortium with deep-rooted connections to the ski locale, marking a significant step forward in the lengthy receivership process.

The approval for the funds distribution was granted not only for the proceeds generated from the resort’s sale but also an additional sum of approximately $10 million obtained from a substantial settlement with financial firm Raymond James. This entity played a role in transactions for developer Ariel Quiros, who owned Jay Peak and Burke Mountain ski areas during that period.

Overall, the receiver highlighted in court filings that a total of $22 million was available to be divided equally among the 121 investors involved with Burke Mountain, equating to $183,322 each, representing a return of around 36% of their original investment. Goldberg asserted that this resolution treated all Burke investors fairly based on their initial financial commitments.

The developments in the northern Vermont region were spearheaded by Quiros, alongside former Jay Peak president and CEO Bill Stenger, and attorney William Kelly, who was a close advisor to Quiros. All three faced federal criminal charges in 2019, leading to subsequent prison sentences due to their involvement in an EB-5 funded project in Newport, which failed to materialize as intended – a $110 million biomedical research facility.

Goldberg, who has been at the helm of overseeing properties central to the scandal since 2016, engaged in fund distribution planning that was recently approved by Judge Darrin P. Gayles, who presides over the receivership in federal court in Miami. The approval signifies a significant step forward in providing some relief to the EB-5 investors impacted by the financial mismanagement that marred the Northeast Kingdom’s resort landscape.