The federal government is expected to reverse its decision to shut down Vermont s EB-5 foreign investor program, giving hope to hundreds of investors in the fraudulent Jay Peak project that they will still be able to get the green cards they sought in return for pouring money into the ski resort.
The EB-5 program gives foreign nationals a pathway to citizenship in return for investing $500,000 in development projects in economically disadvantaged regions of the country like the Northeast Kingdom, where Jay Peak is located.
One of the biggest frauds in the history of the EB-5 program was carried out at Jay Peak by Ariel Quiros and his partner Bill Stenger. Quiros pled guilty to several federal criminal charges, admitted that he used EB-5 funds to pay personal expenses, and that he misled investors in a Ponzi-like scheme. In April 2016, a federal court appointed a receiver, Michael Goldberg, to manage Jay Peak. Goldberg plans to sell the resort to recoup a portion of investors money