Stenger and Quiros Ousted from Management of Jay Peak and Burke

[VTKilarney]

Funny how Stenger got a deal in exchange for cooperation. I thought that he had absolutely no idea that anything improper was happening. At least that's what he expected the public to believe. I'm shocked I tell you!

 

[Tin]

Unreleased photo of Bill Stenger meeting with the SEC.

Yup. Saving himself?

 

[chrisinvermont]

FYI-Stenger only settled the civil claim from the SEC. He can still face criminal charges. Let's hope that's what plays out. Although I bet he sings there as well and leaves Q hanging as part of a plea bargain.

 

[River19]

FYI-Stenger only settled the civil claim from the SEC. He can still face criminal charges. Let's hope that's what plays out. Although I bet he sings there as well and leaves Q hanging as part of a plea bargain.

Solid point right there.

I forgot the SEC piece was only the Civil portion.

It will be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out.

Way too much has happened for someone to not go to jail.

It reminds me of the scene from National Treasure at the end....."you know someone has to go to jail".....

 

[doublediamond]

Called it:

http://www.newenglandskiindustry.com/viewstory.php?storyid=475

Stenger settles and is cooperating with SEC against Q

 

[thetrailboss]

Some other news:

Jerry Davis knows he is in trouble:

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/01/burke-contractor-hires-criminal-defense-securities-lawyers/

Mr. Kelly was paid $7.9 million for his "construction supervision" services:

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/01/quiros-associate-paid-7-9m-supervisory-services-anc-bio-vermont/

And the State is being hush regarding USCIS scrutiny:

http://vtdigger.org/2016/08/31/shumlin-administration-denies-public-records-request/

This is the face of transparent, accountable state government:

 

[River19]

TB - I'm still on the fence with Davis as to really what his role if any in the fraud was. I'm not saying there isn't something there, I'm just less confident in saying what it is.

Kelly, that dude is tits deep in this thing just like Stenger. At least with Dirty Billy S. I can believe his heart was somewhat in the right place as he had ties to the Mountain etc. but Dirty Billy K.......that dude was in things for the $7.9M or at least his cut of the $7.9M. And let's not forget his wife and her "design" firm got at least $150K for the "design of the lobby area".....which in the Burke hotel is standard fare, so standard that a picture of a Hawthorne Inn with a post it of "built it like this"....could have produced the same thing from a "design" standpoint.

The state? don't get me started, but are we surprised?

 

[thetrailboss]

TB - I'm still on the fence with Davis as to really what his role if any in the fraud was. I'm not saying there isn't something there, I'm just less confident in saying what it is.

Yeah, I don't know what he knows or what his role was. We will find out. May have been nothing.

Kelly, that dude is tits deep in this thing just like Stenger. At least with Dirty Billy S. I can believe his heart was somewhat in the right place as he had ties to the Mountain etc. but Dirty Billy K.......that dude was in things for the $7.9M or at least his cut of the $7.9M. And let's not forget his wife and her "design" firm got at least $150K for the "design of the lobby area".....which in the Burke hotel is standard fare, so standard that a picture of a Hawthorne Inn with a post it of "built it like this"....could have produced the same thing from a "design" standpoint.

Lots of folks just did not get a good vibe with Kelly at all. He was Q's right hand man and certainly seemed to be playing a game.

The state? don't get me started, but are we surprised?

Very sad actually. Very disappointed. We will see what happens here as well.

 

[oldtimer]

If you like skiing in the NEK, don't be too hard on Bill Stenger.

I suspect that he was bambozzled by Q-Sr. Do I think he was smart enough to know that things were shady a couple of years in? Yes. But if you have ever been in a compromised position like this, you know well that doing the "right Thing" is impossible. Right for whom? His constituencies were his employees, his customers, his family & the Eb-5 investors. Once you understand that Q is stealing, ANY solution hurts one or more of your constituencies.

There seems to be no evidence that Stenger took any EB-5 money home. In fact, it seems that Q ripped Stenger off w/r/t his promised Jay Peak ownership stake.

I know that NO ONE worked harder last winter to get a decent skiing product at Jay and Burke last winter. I spent a bunch of time at both mountains last winter. Bill Stenger was everywhere, at all hours at Jay to try and get as good product as possible. At Burke, I was told by very, very reliable sources that Bill Stenger had to ride Q-Jr extremely hard to get him to open when they did and to keep making snow after it became clear that the season was a train wreck. Bill Stenger personally convinced much of the key staff to hold on at Burke. In the fall and earlky winter we saw a lot of him in East Burke. ALL THIS while he knew the Feds were closing in on he and Q.

As far as we know, none of the funny business was for his own profit. Going into it, I think he did what he thought would make the NEK a more livable place. There are not too many we can say that about. Many, many have shuttered industries -- cut and run. Is it better to try something and get in over your head or cut and run?

I know- you hard liners feel like we should lynch the whole crew. I for one am glad that neither Jay Peak nor Burke is in the Saddleback situation. For better or for worse, Bill Stenger's tenacity has helped keep them alive. Burke w/o the hotel is not much of an asset.

YUP-- He and Q have destroyed downtown Newport & I suspect ruined some hapless EB-5 investor portfolios. I do not think Bill Stenger intended or envisioned how wrong this could go.

 

[BenedictGomez]

If you like skiing in the NEK, don't be too hard on Bill Stenger.

I suspect that he was bambozzled by Q-Sr. Do I think he was smart enough to know that things were shady a couple of years in? Yes. But if you have ever been in a compromised position like this, you know well that doing the "right Thing" is impossible. Right for whom? His constituencies were his employees, his customers, his family & the Eb-5 investors. Once you understand that Q is stealing, ANY solution hurts one or more of your constituencies.

Total BS, to the point of almost being difficult to read.

I sure hope you dont teach "Ethics" classes at a college or B-school.

 

[thetrailboss]

If you like skiing in the NEK, don't be too hard on Bill Stenger.

I suspect that he was bambozzled by Q-Sr. Do I think he was smart enough to know that things were shady a couple of years in? Yes. But if you have ever been in a compromised position like this, you know well that doing the "right Thing" is impossible. Right for whom? His constituencies were his employees, his customers, his family & the Eb-5 investors. Once you understand that Q is stealing, ANY solution hurts one or more of your constituencies.

There seems to be no evidence that Stenger took any EB-5 money home. In fact, it seems that Q ripped Stenger off w/r/t his promised Jay Peak ownership stake.

I know that NO ONE worked harder last winter to get a decent skiing product at Jay and Burke last winter. I spent a bunch of time at both mountains last winter. Bill Stenger was everywhere, at all hours at Jay to try and get as good product as possible. At Burke, I was told by very, very reliable sources that Bill Stenger had to ride Q-Jr extremely hard to get him to open when they did and to keep making snow after it became clear that the season was a train wreck. Bill Stenger personally convinced much of the key staff to hold on at Burke. In the fall and earlky winter we saw a lot of him in East Burke. ALL THIS while he knew the Feds were closing in on he and Q.

As far as we know, none of the funny business was for his own profit. Going into it, I think he did what he thought would make the NEK a more livable place. There are not too many we can say that about. Many, many have shuttered industries -- cut and run. Is it better to try something and get in over your head or cut and run?

I know- you hard liners feel like we should lynch the whole crew. I for one am glad that neither Jay Peak nor Burke is in the Saddleback situation. For better or for worse, Bill Stenger's tenacity has helped keep them alive. Burke w/o the hotel is not much of an asset.

YUP-- He and Q have destroyed downtown Newport & I suspect ruined some hapless EB-5 investor portfolios. I do not think Bill Stenger intended or envisioned how wrong this could go.

I will confess that I, too, hope that Stenger indeed was misled by Q. This is not the first time in Vermont that an actor in a Ponzi scheme claims he did not know what was going on.

Unfortunately, Vermont has a very bad track record when it comes to people getting scammed by others, with folks embezzling money, and with folks committing fraud. I've mentioned this before. Folks are either very trusting or we just have a lot of scammers or both.

Ironically enough Utah also has a very bad track record--mainly because of people being very trusting and very ambitious folks with good intentions getting in over their heads.

A part of me believes that Stenger just got in over his head here. He has been at Jay since 1984 or so and has always had to survive somehow.

 

[River19]

If you like skiing in the NEK, don't be too hard on Bill Stenger.

I suspect that he was bambozzled by Q-Sr. Do I think he was smart enough to know that things were shady a couple of years in? Yes. But if you have ever been in a compromised position like this, you know well that doing the "right Thing" is impossible. Right for whom? His constituencies were his employees, his customers, his family & the Eb-5 investors. Once you understand that Q is stealing, ANY solution hurts one or more of your constituencies.

There seems to be no evidence that Stenger took any EB-5 money home. In fact, it seems that Q ripped Stenger off w/r/t his promised Jay Peak ownership stake.

I know that NO ONE worked harder last winter to get a decent skiing product at Jay and Burke last winter. I spent a bunch of time at both mountains last winter. Bill Stenger was everywhere, at all hours at Jay to try and get as good product as possible. At Burke, I was told by very, very reliable sources that Bill Stenger had to ride Q-Jr extremely hard to get him to open when they did and to keep making snow after it became clear that the season was a train wreck. Bill Stenger personally convinced much of the key staff to hold on at Burke. In the fall and earlky winter we saw a lot of him in East Burke. ALL THIS while he knew the Feds were closing in on he and Q.

As far as we know, none of the funny business was for his own profit. Going into it, I think he did what he thought would make the NEK a more livable place. There are not too many we can say that about. Many, many have shuttered industries -- cut and run. Is it better to try something and get in over your head or cut and run?

I know- you hard liners feel like we should lynch the whole crew. I for one am glad that neither Jay Peak nor Burke is in the Saddleback situation. For better or for worse, Bill Stenger's tenacity has helped keep them alive. Burke w/o the hotel is not much of an asset.

YUP-- He and Q have destroyed downtown Newport & I suspect ruined some hapless EB-5 investor portfolios. I do not think Bill Stenger intended or envisioned how wrong this could go.

I understand the empathetic line of thinking, but on the flip side of that is when you are in charge of a business and you do have those constituents to think about, staying on the straight and narrow right from the start is the only path that doesn't put you in a compromised position in the first place.

I agree that Stenger wanted what was best for the NEK, as I stated I think his heart was many times in the right place.

BUT.......from day one......when he broke his fiduciary responsibility to his investors in the EB-5 program by providing the Qs with the funds and wiring them out of People's to the brokerage firm he sold his soul. He was the key initial enabler to allow Q to begin his process of laundering funds. Bill was the one that dropped the ball into Q's twisted pinball machine of companies. He knew it was wrong on day 1 as I know he is not a stupid man.

If he didn't make those initial misappropriations with the accounts at People's, Q would never have been able to buy Jay with EB-5 money as we all know now he couldn't afford it without the funds. sure there is a chance Q would have screwed someone else to come up with funds but this one is also on Bill.

I think it is a shame, regardless of where Bill's heart is, he sold his soul to the Florida devil; at some point he needs to be held responsible for his actions.

 

[thetrailboss]

I understand the empathetic line of thinking, but on the flip side of that is when you are in charge of a business and you do have those constituents to think about, staying on the straight and narrow right from the start is the only path that doesn't put you in a compromised position in the first place.

I agree that Stenger wanted what was best for the NEK, as I stated I think his heart was many times in the right place.

BUT.......from day one......when he broke his fiduciary responsibility to his investors in the EB-5 program by providing the Qs with the funds and wiring them out of People's to the brokerage firm he sold his soul. He was the key initial enabler to allow Q to begin his process of laundering funds. Bill was the one that dropped the ball into Q's twisted pinball machine of companies. He knew it was wrong on day 1 as I know he is not a stupid man.

If he didn't make those initial misappropriations with the accounts at People's, Q would never have been able to buy Jay with EB-5 money as we all know now he couldn't afford it without the funds. sure there is a chance Q would have screwed someone else to come up with funds but this one is also on Bill.

I think it is a shame, regardless of where Bill's heart is, he sold his soul to the Florida devil; at some point he needs to be held responsible for his actions.

This is very true. The same was said about Mac Parker about "enabling" the scam.

 

[Rikka]

Says Bill is gone.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/02/jay-peak-receiver-says-stenger-no-longer-working-resort/

 

[River19]

Says Bill is gone.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/02/jay-peak-receiver-says-stenger-no-longer-working-resort/

About time.

Sad, but he needed to go, way too much baggage.

That being said, I think one can potentially interpret his actions since the Feds took action as wanting to act in the best interest of what was left of the resorts........sort of his swan song. For that I tip a glass, but a small glass as overall he screwed too many good folks.

 

[LONGBOARDR]

Says Bill is gone.

http://vtdigger.org/2016/09/02/jay-peak-receiver-says-stenger-no-longer-working-resort/

I was going to reply to an earlier response to OT that Bill was living inside a gilded cage (Jaypeak) of his own creation.
Now he does not even have that.
For Bill, this is the most severe sentence he could have been handed.
Many won't understand this but it is the case IMO. Karma with a capital K.
I question his actions, reasoning and motivation through all of this, but not his love for Jay Peak.

I knew the old Bill in the ratty fur coat with the viking horns, it was good times at the mtn (1990).
Jay never needed to chase customers, we have the goods, lots of natural snow and ass kicking terrain
Why does everything have to get so fucked up and change for the worse?
Lets try leaving shit alone like The Golden Eagle

Sorry for the rant

Longboardr

 

[thetrailboss]

Being let go from Jay is the worst punishment I could think of for Bill. That was his life. He must be going through hell.

Wonder if that was part of the plea deal.

Think he sells his house and leaves?

I didn't see this one coming.


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone

 

[kingdom-tele]

If you like skiing in the NEK, don't be too hard on Bill Stenger.

I suspect that he was bambozzled by Q-Sr. Do I think he was smart enough to know that things were shady a couple of years in? Yes. But if you have ever been in a compromised position like this, you know well that doing the "right Thing" is impossible. Right for whom? His constituencies were his employees, his customers, his family & the Eb-5 investors. Once you understand that Q is stealing, ANY solution hurts one or more of your constituencies.

There seems to be no evidence that Stenger took any EB-5 money home. In fact, it seems that Q ripped Stenger off w/r/t his promised Jay Peak ownership stake.

I know that NO ONE worked harder last winter to get a decent skiing product at Jay and Burke last winter. I spent a bunch of time at both mountains last winter. Bill Stenger was everywhere, at all hours at Jay to try and get as good product as possible. At Burke, I was told by very, very reliable sources that Bill Stenger had to ride Q-Jr extremely hard to get him to open when they did and to keep making snow after it became clear that the season was a train wreck. Bill Stenger personally convinced much of the key staff to hold on at Burke. In the fall and earlky winter we saw a lot of him in East Burke. ALL THIS while he knew the Feds were closing in on he and Q.

As far as we know, none of the funny business was for his own profit. Going into it, I think he did what he thought would make the NEK a more livable place. There are not too many we can say that about. Many, many have shuttered industries -- cut and run. Is it better to try something and get in over your head or cut and run?

I know- you hard liners feel like we should lynch the whole crew. I for one am glad that neither Jay Peak nor Burke is in the Saddleback situation. For better or for worse, Bill Stenger's tenacity has helped keep them alive. Burke w/o the hotel is not much of an asset.

YUP-- He and Q have destroyed downtown Newport & I suspect ruined some hapless EB-5 investor portfolios. I do not think Bill Stenger intended or envisioned how wrong this could go.

He worked hard to cover his own ass, knowing full well what was going on. Lets not associate his desire for success on his altruism when it was driven by another motivating factor.

I find it remarkable that a person with such high hopes and dedication to developing the future success of a community could not contemplate how it could go wrong, that it was never allowed in to their internal conversation. Given the evolution of the situation and the scrambling to patch the holes, it seems inconceivable such a brilliant mind couldn't tell.

More things should fail. This idea that success is the only option and based on the measure of money is corrosive. I can't imagine an ideal further from the NEK than that.

 

[Tin]

He was either toO dumb to know what was going on or he was in on it, either way he shouldn't be there...

NSFW

 

[Tin]

Meanwhile, Stenger's co-defendant, Ariel Quiros, has an attorney's bill worth more than $600,000 according to SEC documents. He wants the feds to free up his assets to pay for those attorney fees, and his legal team says he has an offer in writing from an unknown buyer to purchase Jay Peak Incorporated for $93 million.-WCAX

Calls up a friend to buy the place, he then becomes "instrumental" in the sale and getting investors their money back. Feds take it eas(ier) on him?