According to the Associated Press, Ariel Quiros has been sentenced to at least 8 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud. The AP describes the case as “the largest fraud in Vermont’s history”.
Quiros was the owner of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain Resort in Vermont.
Quiros is charged with enticing investors to fund a biotech plant that was to be built in Newport, VT. Millions of dollars were from foreign investors with the promise of American citizenship under the EB-5 Visa program.
Turns out that Quiros was using investor’s money to fund his lavish lifestyle. Quiros and his partners were forced to surrender more than $80 million in assets to the SEC, including Jay Peak and Burke Mountain Resort.
It’s estimated that Quiros and his conspirators misused $200 million of the $400 million they raised from 800 investors.
This indictment has been a long time coming. We posted first about the Jay Peak “Ponzi-scheme” back in 2016.
There’s nothing like a good-ol’-fashioned Ponzi Scheme to shake-up the ski industry. We hope that the investors continue to be re-compensated, and that the people of Newport, VT can begin to move on from this chapter.