leveled civil investor fraud enforcement actions against Ariel Quiros, then Jay Peak’s owner, and Bill Stenger, the resort’s former CEO and president.
Quiros and Stenger, as well as Bill Kelly, a key adviser to Quiros, all later reached plea deals with federal prosecutors on criminal charges and served jail time in connection with one of the EB-5 projects, a more than $100 million biomedical research facility proposed for Newport, known as AnC Bio Vermont.
According to filings from the state and federal regulators, the developers misused hundreds of millions of investor dollars raised through the EB-5 visa program, which was designed to reward foreign investors with green cards or permanent U.S. residency in exchange for putting money into qualified projects in the country.
Burke Mountain Resort to Bear Den Partners LLC, a group of people with longtime ties to the ski area.
That…
PROCUREMENT & EXPENDITURE (STOPPING KICKBACKS)
Procurement fraud usually involves inflated invoices or “fictitious” vendors.
- The Three-Way Match: Never pay an invoice unless you have matched the Purchase Order (PO), the Delivery Note (signed), and the Supplier Invoice.
- Vendor Master File Review: Review your vendor list annually. Look for suppliers with the same bank details or physical addresses as your employees.
- Dual Authorization: Implement a “Two-to-Sign” rule for all EFT payments above a certain threshold (e.g., R5,000).
- No “Cashing” of Checks: If you still use physical checks, strictly prohibit “Cash” as a payee and store blank checks in a dual-lock safe.