Tag: Bluestone Resources

Federal Court Orders Justice-Owned Companies To Pay $8.5 Million

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

A federal court has placed liens on several companies owned by Gov. Jim Justice to satisfy a previous state court-ordered judgment.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has enforced a state court decision last year to award Western Surety more than $8.5 million, plus interest.

The federal court placed charging orders, or liens, on Justice Coal of Kentucky, Justice Coal of West Virginia, Justice Management Services, Chestnut Land Holdings, Dublin Land, Twin Fir Estates and Justice Family Farms.

The judgment in favor of Western Surety was issued by the Circuit Court for Fairfax County, Virginia, in September. The award comes with post-judgment interest of 6 percent per annum.

In a separate case in the Western District of Virginia, Western Surety seeks another $3 million from Justice, Bluestone Resources and Southern Coal, alleging breach of contract.

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, faces numerous legal challenges.

Another bond provider, Federal Insurance Co., sued Justice and four of his companies in June in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking $8.1 million in damages.

Last month, a $1.2 million helicopter was seized from Bluestone Resources to partially satisfy a debt owed to a Caribbean investment firm.

In February, 1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, sued Bluestone in the Virginia court, charging breach of contract and seeking $4.5 million in damages.

The complaint accuses Bluestone of defaulting on loan agreements and also seeks attorney’s fees and possession of collateral.

According to the complaint, that collateral consists of “equipment owned by Bluestone Coal” and three properties that are part of the Wintergreen Ski Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia.

DEP Sues Pinnacle Mining; Residents Say Toxic Creek Is Poisoning Them

Around sundown, residents said you used to hear a roar of frogs. Now it’s silent. 

They said they have broken out in rashes and had medical symptoms they had never experienced before like frequent headaches and stomach aches.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection filed a lawsuit against Pinnacle Mining, a defunct coal mining company that was bought by a company owned by Gov. Jim Justice. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Pineville. 

In the lawsuit, the DEP, accuses Pinnacle of discharging harmful chemicals into Indian Creek. 

Around sundown, residents said you used to hear a roar of frogs. Now it’s silent. 

They said they have broken out in rashes and had medical symptoms they had never experienced before like frequent headaches and stomach aches. 

Along the creek bed, there are greasy pools, tongs of white slimy strings, and yellow foam. A woman who lives along the creek had 100 chickens die around the same time the frogs stopped singing. 

Resident Richard Altizer said he doesn’t know what chemicals are causing the putrid sulfur smell that comes out of his neighbors well, but he knows it’s not natural. He said that someone should go to jail for poisoning people’s wells. 

Altizer said he doesn’t trust the DEP even though in the lawsuit they filed the agency is requesting relief in the form of asking the companies to clean up the water sources and to prevent any more unauthorized discharges from entering the stream. 

“It’s the DEP that is not protecting us like they were supposed to be,” Altizer said. “They did not protect us. And there will be no accountability.” 

There will likely be more court dates in the future regarding Indian Creek. The Environmental Protection Agency  just settled with conservation advocacy groups for its alleged failure to monitor chemical levels in the Guyandotte River, which Indian Creek feeds into. 

Pinnacle Mining was purchased by Bluestone Resources, a coal company owned by Justice.

New Lawsuit Names Justice, Involves More Properties Near Greenbrier

First Guaranty Bank of Hammond, Louisiana, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia last week against People’s Bank of Marietta, Ohio.

Gov. Jim Justice has been named in a new lawsuit involving multiple banks and claims on two properties adjacent to his Greenbrier Resort.

First Guaranty Bank of Hammond, Louisiana, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia last week against People’s Bank of Marietta, Ohio.

The complaint also names as defendants Carter Bank, the Virginia lender that’s one of Justice’s biggest creditors; three additional West Virginia banks; the Greenbrier Hotel Corporation; the Greenbrier Medical Institute; Justice and the Justice Family Group.

First Guaranty seeks to restore its claim to liens on two properties in Greenbrier County, the Old White Lot and Kate’s Mountain, totaling more than 2,800 acres.

The properties were collateral for a $6 million loan made by a predecessor of People’s Bank, Premier Bank of Ravenswood.

First Guaranty alleges that People’s Bank prepared a document in 2022 without First Guaranty’s knowledge stating that the loan had been paid in full and releasing the liens on the properties. 

First Guaranty’s complaint calls the People’s Bank declaration “unauthorized and improper.”

First Guaranty seeks at least $75,000 in damages and for the court to declare that the $6 million has not been paid in full and that the properties have not been released.

It also asks for “further relief as the nature of this cause and the interests of justice may require.”

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, faces multiple lawsuits in multiple states involving his business empire. The creditors of his numerous companies have sought the repayment of millions of dollars. 

Among them, Carter Bank has sought to claim other properties near the Greenbrier Resort as collateral for unpaid loans.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in Roanoke, Virginia, ordered Justice’s Bluestone Resources to surrender a helicopter to partially satisfy a debt owed to a Caribbean investment firm.

Indiana Bank Sues Justice-Owned Coal Company, Seeks $4.5 Million

1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, filed a complaint this week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

An Indiana bank that’s a creditor of Bluestone Resources, a coal company owned by the family of Gov. Jim Justice, has sued Bluestone in federal court for breach of contract.

1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, filed a complaint this week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. 1st Source seeks $4.5 million in damages.

The complaint accuses Bluestone of defaulting on loan agreements and also seeks attorney’s fees and possession of collateral.

According to the complaint, that collateral consists of “equipment owned by Bluestone Coal” and three properties that are part of the Wintergreen Ski Resort near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Bluestone, based in Roanoke, Virginia, was ordered by a federal judge last month to surrender a helicopter to partially settle a $13 million debt owed to another creditor, Caroleng Investments.

Court filings revealed Caroleng to be an offshore shell company incorporated in the Caribbean tax haven of the British Virgin Islands.

1st Source had also claimed a senior interest in the Bell Textron Canada helicopter. Caroleng and 1st Source reached an agreement last month for the sale of the helicopter. The judge must still approve the sale.

Justice, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate this year, faces new questions about his businesses and numerous lawsuits seeking repayment of what his companies owe creditors.

Justice Creditors Agree To Sale Of Coal Company’s Helicopter

Caroleng Investments, a Caribbean company, and First Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, have submitted a joint proposal to sell a helicopter owned by Bluestone Resources.

Two of Gov. Jim Justice’s creditors have agreed to sell a helicopter to help settle a debt.

Caroleng Investments, a Caribbean company, and First Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, have submitted a joint proposal to sell a helicopter owned by Bluestone Resources.

Bluestone, which is one of Justice’s numerous companies, did not participate in the agreement, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Bluestone owes Caroleng about $10 million and sought the helicopter as a partial repayment.

Bluestone and First Source tried unsuccessfully to convince a federal judge to stay an order for U.S. Marshals to seize the helicopter on Caroleng’s behalf.

The agreement directs Bluestone to surrender the 2009 Bell helicopter to a third party, Heli-X, of Colleyville, Texas, within 72 hours of the court’s issuance of an initial sale order.

A judge will have to approve the agreement.

Judge Orders Sale Of Justice Coal Company’s Helicopter

Bluestone has a 2009 Bell helicopter, valued at about $1.2 million, and Caroleng sought a court order for the U.S. Marshals to seize it where it was housed in Roanoke, Virginia.

A federal judge has cleared the way for the sale of a helicopter owned by one of Gov. Jim Justice’s coal companies.

Last year, Caroleng Investments, an offshore shell company, went to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to recover about $10 million owed by Bluestone Resources.

Bluestone has a 2009 Bell helicopter, valued at about $1.2 million, and Caroleng sought a court order for the U.S. Marshals to seize it where it was housed in Roanoke, Virginia.

Bluestone and another Justice creditor, First Source Bank, sought a stay of that order.

This week, U.S. District Judge Robert S. Ballou denied the stay, giving the parties seven days to arrange for a sale of the helicopter.

In the meantime, Ballou’s order said, the helicopter is not to be moved. Publicly available flight tracking information showed the helicopter was moved in October from Roanoke to Burlington, North Carolina.

The case is one of many where Justice’s creditors have taken his businesses to court to recover millions of dollars. Justice is a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate this year.

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