There are new details from documents linked to a fraud scandal at Jay Peak. They show the feds thought about shutting down the state's entire EB-5 program.
The communications between the state and the federal government were released Wednesday to VTDigger, which went to court to get them.
VTDigger learned that federal immigration officials considered closing the state's EB-5 regional center over concerns about project oversight at Jay Peak. The center is responsible for promoting EB-5 programs in Vermont and the Jay Peak expansion was the first of the Ariel Quiros-Bill Stenger projects to be approved. The documents show the red flags first surfaced in 2012 under the Shumlin administration. That spring, consulting firm Rapid USA warned the state but its concerns went unheeded. Instead, VTDigger says the state worked to discredit Rapid USA. Then that fall, Bill Stenger announced the $500 million Newport redevelopment plan, flanked by the governor and Vermont's congressional delegation.
That redevelopment never happened, but Rapid USA's concerns became a big part of the Securities and Exchange Commission's allegations against Stenger and Jay Peak's owner, Ariel Quiros.
The Shumlin administration had refused to release the records, but current Governor Phil Scott reversed that and also indicated to VTDigger that he plans to release more in the future as part of an effort to restore public trust in the EB-5 program.