Stenger and Quiros Ousted from Management of Jay Peak and Burke

[mbedle]

In addition to tuning skis and boards, maybe it launders your money for you as well?

LOL - thats a good one.

 

[fbrissette]

I'm fascinated by a 300k ski tuning machine at Burke.

I'm sure there is someone on this board who knows about that. What does a 300k machine does that this one cannot do:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/WINTERSTEIGER-Microjet-PRO-Robotic-Ski-Snowboard-Tuning-Machine-/151463776943

This baby can do 25 pairs of skis per hour, or 500 pairs on a 20-hour rush day. That's more capacity than skiers on most day at Burke.

 

[VTKilarney]

I've pulled a few interesting tidbits from the newspaper article about the Receiver's speech to the Rotary Club:

Goldberg described the day the sale of Jay Peak went through. At 3:52 in the afternoon funds from the EB-5 investment were transferred to Quiros, and four minutes later, at 3:56 p.m., the funds were wired back to the seller, and “Quiros buys the mountain with the investors’ money, when he was supposed to use his own money.”

Goldberg said the government’s case against Quiros is strong, “ … the evidence is overwhelming.”

At Jay Peak, the resort has more than quadrupled its profitability this winter, said Goldberg, “We will have a great year,” with nearly $2 million in profit, he said, thanks in large part to the snow – 366 inches – more than any mountain in New England this season.

The hotel at Burke was supposed to cost $55 million, but ended up costing $66 million, Goldberg said. He said one high end chain who came to look at it, was stunned at some of the equipment at the hotel, including a huge state-of-the-art laundry machine which “takes linens, presses and folds them” and costs as much as $350,000.
“It’s easy when you’re using investor money at $500,000 a pop to get these things,” said Goldberg.
“The quality of the hotel is very good,” Goldberg said in response to a question from club member Hank Parker.
The hotel also has a “$300,000 ski tuning machine for your skis that (a hotel chain who looked at the hotel said) there’s only one other on in New England, maybe three in Colorado,” said Goldberg. “No expenses were spared,” at the new hotel, he said.

 

[VTKilarney]

In other news, Quiros' new attorneys have dropped the appeal of the order freezing Quiros' assets.

This could be as simple as Quiros wanting to get his legal fees under control - and to fight battles that actually make sense to fight. His attorney's fees to date are nearly $3 million according to VT Digger. He is in a separate legal fight with an insurance company. He claims that they should cover up to $10 million for his legal defense. The insurance company feels otherwise.

 

[thetrailboss]

Granted, you're only getting one-side of the story when you're hearing solely from the plaintiff, but this bit here.....



is particularly disturbing, and if true, would be all I'd need to know to believe MSS was indeed in on the initial scam.

Correct on both. And it does not take much digging to see that MSS is an interesting company. I have heard it called the "Montreal Mafia." They certainly did not care about where Quiros sourced the money for the deal even though it was pretty damn obvious that he just took the account and sent it right back to them. Brilliant!

 

[VTKilarney]

Correct on both. And it does not take much digging to see that MSS is an interesting company. I have heard it called the "Montreal Mafia." They certainly did not care about where Quiros sourced the money for the deal even though it was pretty damn obvious that he just took the account and sent it right back to them. Brilliant!

If their resort portfolio is any indication, it appears that they don't have any assets in the United States. So even if there is a judgment, collecting it is another matter.

 

[thetrailboss]

Part II of the Cal Rec special on the EB-5 incident:

http://www.caledonianrecord.com/new...cle_ef0155ef-0573-547d-87b8-0db406f27c8d.html

 

[BenedictGomez]

This baby can do 25 pairs of skis per hour, or 500 pairs on a 20-hour rush day.
That's more capacity than skiers on most day at Burke.

I bet they'd take $30k. We should do an AZ group buy.

Get 100 of us to chip in $300 and it's free ski tunes for you and your entire family for life!

We'll have to locate it centrally for as many people as possible, probably southern Vermont.

 

[Jcb890]

I bet they'd take $30k. We should do an AZ group buy.

Get 100 of us to chip in $300 and it's free ski tunes for you and your entire family for life!

We'll have to locate it centrally for as many people as possible, probably southern Vermont.

Can it do snowboards too?

 

[fbrissette]

Can it do snowboards too?

Definitely.

 

[thetrailboss]

http://digital.vpr.net/post/jay-pea...g-deal-will-have-far-reaching-effect#stream/0

I figure it is either (a) that Quiros has agreed to a deal, (b) one of the other financial entities has cried uncle, or (c) he has found a buyer. I think it is more likely (a) or (b).

 

[VTKilarney]

I don't think that it is (c) unless Quiros has agreed to a deal, since the assets are just frozen and not free to be sold.

If you recall, a couple of posts ago, I said that Quiros seems to have shifted strategies and is less adversarial. I think that there is a decent chance that it's (a), but that it could just be (b).

If there is a deal with Quiros, the big question is whether or not it will allow him to escape criminal prosecution. I know that the feds work very slowly, but the fact that there hasn't been an indictment by now is rather interesting.

There have been no rumors of people kicking the tires at the resorts, which is one reason why I am not convinced that a sale will be announced. But it's really anyone's guess.

In other news, I have heard that Burke will post a loss this year, but that the loss was not as much as they were braced for.

So if I had to place a bet, with very little confidence I would bet that Quiros has settled which will now free up the resorts to be sold.

 

[BenedictGomez]

the big question is whether or not it will allow him to escape criminal prosecution.

Quiros is going to jail. You dont embezzle millions of dollars, have reams of evidence against you, and not go to jail.

So if I had to place a bet, with very little confidence I would bet that Quiros has settled which will now free up the resorts to be sold.

If I had to place a bet, I would bet one or more financial entities (Raymond James) is settling out of court.

 

[yeggous]

Quiros is going to jail. You dont embezzle millions of dollars, have reams of evidence against you, and not go to jail.



If I had to place a bet, I would bet one or more financial entities (Raymond James) is settling out of court.

I wouldn't bet on jail. Criminal charges have not been filed. White collar crime gets little attention. Do you remember 2008?


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[benski]

White collar crime gets little attention.

Have you ever heard of Bernie Sanders?

 

[BenedictGomez]

White collar crime gets little attention. Do you remember 2008?

The fall of 2008 was due to an unholy and moronic "partnership" between government and Wall Street, but you'd be hard-pressed to find legitimate "crimes" committed. Dumb government policy is not a crime. Wall Street greed is not a crime.

Stealing millions of dollars from foreign investors and buying New York real estate (Ariel Quiros), however, is a crime.

And when hedge fund goons are found to be embezzling millions of dollars, they too go to jail, I've seen it many times. Trust me, Quiros is going to jail. The reason it's taking so long is, as previously mentioned, the Feds are slow, as well as the fact that this is probably ridiculously complicated in terms of trying to untangle all the places and projects Quiros funneled money through. An accounting nightmare.

 

[VTKilarney]

If I had to place a bet, I would bet one or more financial entities (Raymond James) is settling out of court.

I'm starting to think that you may be right.

 

[VTKilarney]

What's absolutely shocking to me is that Quiros' son-in-law, who is accused of aiding in this fraud, is still employed at Raymond James.

http://www.raymondjames.com/rjamiami/joel_burstein.htm

 

[BenedictGomez]

What's absolutely shocking to me is that Quiros' son-in-law, who is accused of aiding in this fraud, is still employed at Raymond James.

http://www.raymondjames.com/rjamiami/joel_burstein.htm

Could the answer be as simple as, if they fire him it could be used against them in court as an admission of guilt?

 

[thetrailboss]

Have you ever heard of Bernie Sanders?

Praytell, what has he done about the issue other than complain?