Curtis Tate Published

Creditor Asks Court To Force Justice Company To Turn Over Helicopter

A big man with white hair, wearing a blue jacket and red shirt, speaks to a crowd of people under a tent.Curtis Tate / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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A creditor of a coal company owned by the family of Gov. Jim Justice is still trying to seize a helicopter.

Caroleng Investments, an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands, has gone back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Caroleng wants Bluestone Resources, based in Roanoke, to give up a helicopter it owns. Bluestone owes Caroleng $13 million and seeks the helicopter to partly settle the debt.

In a series of court filings last month, Bluestone claimed that another creditor, 1st Source Bank of South Bend, Indiana, had a superior claim on the helicopter.

A judge stayed a prior order for U.S. Marshals to seize the helicopter, which is usually stationed in Roanoke but had been moved to Burlington, North Carolina.

Caroleng asked the court to lift the stay and direct the U.S. Marshals to follow the original order.