MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont taxpayers will be on the hook for $16.5 million as part of the state’s settlement this summer with foreign investors related to the Kingdom Con scandal.
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark told lawmakers this week that the state’s insurance agent, AIG, denied a claim from the state to cover the settlement.
The Kingdom Con was the largest fraud case the state has ever seen. The massive Ponzi scheme to rebuild Jay Peak, Burke Mountain, and the Newport area was fueled by $200 million in foreign investor money as part of the federal EB-5 green card program. But prosecutors say the money was misused or stolen by the developers. The lawsuits claimed the state intentionally kept quiet, allowing more investors to be defrauded so construction projects already underway could continue.
The governor and his team are asking for $9.5 million this year as a first payment.
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