Tag: Bluestone Resources

Creditor Asks Court To Force Justice Company To Turn Over Helicopter

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.

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.

Justice-Owned Company Faces Workers Compensation Suit

LM Insurance, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, says Bluestone Resources and affiliated Justice companies owe $1.75 million in payments.

A company owned by the family of Gov. Jim Justice has been sued over workers compensation. 

LM Insurance, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, says Bluestone Resources and affiliated Justice companies owe $1.75 million in premium payments. 

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, says Bluestone filed an application in 2020 for a workers compensation insurance policy for its operations in Virginia and West Virginia.

In 2021, LM Insurance canceled the policy for non-payment of premiums. 

In 2022, Bluestone made a payment toward the premiums of $50,000, the court filing says.

LM Insurance asked Bluestone to pay the remaining balance of $1.75 million, but Bluestone has not done so, the filing says.

LM sued Bluestone for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. It seeks compensatory damages, interest, court costs and further relief if the court sees fit.

Neither Justice nor any of his family members are named in the suit. Bluestone is based in Roanoke, Virginia.

Another company has sued Bluestone in the same Virginia court. Caroleng Investments, an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands, says Bluestone owes it $13 million.

Last month, Caroleng’s attorneys sought a court order for the U.S. Marshals to seize a helicopter belonging to Bluestone that was housed at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport. 

Bluestone and another of its creditors, an Indiana bank, asked the court to stay the order. Meanwhile, the helicopter was moved from Roanoke to Burlington, North Carolina.

A judge issued the stay. A hearing will be held Friday to work toward settling the dispute.

Federal Judge Blocks Seizure Of Justice Coal Company Helicopter

Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, granted a stay on Thursday sought by the coal company, Bluestone Resources, and 1st Source Bank of South Bend, Indiana, one of Bluestone’s creditors.

A federal judge in Virginia has blocked the seizure of a helicopter from a coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice. 

Judge James P. Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia granted a stay on Thursday sought by the coal company, Bluestone Resources, and 1st Source Bank of South Bend, Indiana, one of Bluestone’s creditors.

Another Bluestone creditor, Caroleng Investments of the British Virgin Islands, had sought to take possession of the helicopter to settle part of a $13 million debt owed by Bluestone.

Last week, the court ordered the U.S. Marshals to seize the helicopter, which has an estimated value of $1.2 million, according to a Wednesday filing by 1st Source.

The helicopter was housed in Roanoke, Virginia, until late last week, when it was moved to Burlington, North Carolina, according to publicly available flight data.

Caroleng accused Bluestone of hiding the helicopter to avoid paying what it owes.

Bluestone said 1st Source was first in line to get paid in the event the helicopter was sold.

Caroleng said Bluestone couldn’t intervene on behalf of 1st Source, but the bank joined Bluestone’s motion for a stay on Wednesday to protect its interest in the helicopter.

In his order Thursday, Jones froze any transfer of the helicopter or any effort to conceal its location until the court could resolve the dispute.

Jones has scheduled a hearing in the case on Nov. 16 in Abingdon, Virginia.

Indiana Lender Joins Justice Company’s Legal Dispute Over Helicopter

1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, joined Bluestone Resource’s motion for a stay in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia on Wednesday.

An Indiana bank that loaned money to a coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice has joined a court case involving another of the company’s creditors and a dispute over a helicopter.

1st Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, joined Bluestone Resource’s motion for a stay in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia on Wednesday.

Bluestone and 1st Source want the court to stop the U.S. Marshals from seizing the helicopter on behalf of Caroleng Investments, an offshore company Bluestone owes $13 million.

Caroleng had sought the helicopter through the legal process to partly settle the debt.

In its filing, 1st Source estimates the value of the 2012 Bell helicopter at $1.2 million. Previous filings had indicated the helicopter was built in 2009.

1st Source identifies itself as “a lender with a perfected, first-priority security interest in the personal property” of Bluestone, meaning the helicopter.

Caroleng’s attorneys tracked the aircraft, which had been housed in Roanoke, Virginia, to Burlington, North Carolina. On Tuesday, the company asked the court to order Bluestone to turn over the aircraft to the U.S. Marshals, subject to contempt of court.

1st Source and Bluestone entered a loan agreement in 2018 for $1.5 million, the bank’s court filing says.

In 2021, Bluestone secured $10 million in financing from 1st Source, using the helicopter as part of the collateral. As of Oct. 15, Bluestone owes 1st Source about $5 million, the court filing says.

“By virtue of its security interest in the helicopter,” the filing says, “1st Source has a property interest in the helicopter that may be harmed by the execution of the writ.”

In an earlier court filing, Bluestone identified Caroleng, based in the British Virgin Islands, as a shell company controlled by Russian mining and metals oligarch Igor Zyuzin.

Caroleng disputed that description, identifying itself as a “special purpose investment vehicle.”

Justice Coal Company Moved Helicopter Despite Court Order, Creditor Claims

Caroleng Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands, said Bluestone Resources owes it $13 million and accused it of moving the helicopter last week from Roanoke, Virginia, to Burlington, North Carolina, to avoid paying.

A helicopter belonging to a coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice has been moved from Virginia to North Carolina, a company that’s seeking the helicopter to settle a debt said in a court filing Tuesday.

Caroleng Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands, said Bluestone Resources owes it $13 million and accused the company of moving the helicopter last week from Roanoke, Virginia, to Burlington, North Carolina, to avoid paying.

Caroleng said it tracked the helicopter’s movement using the website flightaware.com.

In a filing Friday, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Bluestone sought a stay of an order for U.S. Marshals to seize the 2009 Bell helicopter. In the filing, Bluestone identified Caroleng as an offshore shell company controlled by Russian mining and metals oligarch Igor Zyuzin. 

In its filing Tuesday, Caroleng attorneys disputed Bluestone’s description of Caroleng as a shell company. Rather, they said, it said was “a special purpose investment vehicle that was created to invest in mining interests in West Virginia.”

The filing said Bluestone has a long list of unpaid creditors and is familiar with shell companies. 

“Public financial filings indicate that they have created dozens, if not hundreds, of such entities, likely to thwart collection efforts by creditors such as Caroleng,” the attorneys said of Bluestone.

The filing goes on to say that a helicopter is “not essential” for a mining company, and that private air travel is “generally considered a luxury.”

“Without a helicopter, surely Bluestone executives can travel using alternatives,” the filing said.

Caroleng’s attorneys challenged Bluestone’s assertion that other creditors would be paid first. Bluestone could not intervene on its creditors’ behalf in the event they had an interest in the helicopter, the attorneys said.

Caroleng said a title search for the helicopter produced a single security interest in the name of 1st Source Bank of South Bend, Indiana. Caroleng’s filing said the bank would have to make an appearance in the proceeding to protect its interest in the helicopter, but had not yet done so.

Caroleng also said the court should order Bluestone to deliver the helicopter to the U.S. Marshals and deny the stay, “subject to being held in contempt of this court.”

Justice-Owned Company Tries In Court To Stop Seizure Of Helicopter

On Thursday, the court instructed the marshals to take possession of the helicopter, which is housed at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

A coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice is trying to stop an offshore company controlled by a Russian oligarch from seizing a helicopter it owns.

Bluestone Resources filed a stay in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia on Friday. It seeks to prevent the U.S. Marshals from seizing a 2009 Bell helicopter.

On Thursday, the court instructed the marshals to take possession of the helicopter, which is housed at the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport.

Caroleng Investments, based in the British Virgin Islands, sought the helicopter to recover part of the more than $10 million Bluestone owes it.

In Friday’s filing, however, Bluestone’s attorneys say the helicopter is subject to two security interests that are superior to Caroleng’s lien and secure indebtedness in excess of the helicopter’s value. Those creditors, 1st Source Bank, based in South Bend, Indiana, and Greensill Capital, based in the United Kingdom, would be paid first, not Caroleng, the filing says.

The filing also identifies Caroleng as a holding company controlled by a Russian mining and metals oligarch named Igor Zyuzin.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting reached out to the governor’s office for comment.

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