West Virginia
WV Gov. Jim Justice's Helicopter Seized Over Debt to Russian Firm
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WV Gov Jim Justice’s Helicopter Seized By U.S. Marshals Amidst Unpaid Debt To Russian Company
A federal court has ordered the seizure of a helicopter owned by West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and his family business, Bluestone Resources, over an unpaid debt of more than $10 million to a company linked to a Russian mining and steel giant.
Details Of The Seizure
According to a supplemental writ of execution issued on Thursday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, U.S. Marshals are authorized to take possession of a 2009 Bell Textron Canada Model 427 helicopter, along with all its logs, records, accessories, and parts. The writ also allows the marshals to enter secured spaces by force if necessary to seize the helicopter.
Background of the Debt
The helicopter, with tail number N375JC, is registered to Bluestone Resources, a coal mining company owned by Justice and his family. The company is based in Roanoke, Virginia, but the helicopter was flown from Roanoke to Burlington, North Carolina on Thursday.
Bluestone Resources vs. Caroleng Investments
Justice sold his coal mining interests in Bluestone Resources to Mechel in 2009 for $578 million in cash and stock. He bought Bluestone Resources back in 2015 for $5 million. As part of the deal to buy back Bluestone, Justice agreed to pay Caroleng Investments royalty payments based on a per-ton of coal sold as well as a certain percentage of any future sales.
But Caroleng Investments filed suit against Justice after his companies started withholding the royalty payments, arguing that Caroleng was overpaid. Bluestone contended that it had withheld money as “setoffs” against amounts that it overpaid Caroleng. Caroleng countered that there was a clause in the companies’ 2015 sale agreement that prevented Bluestone from keeping “setoff” payments.
Arbitration Results and Award
The case was arbitrated by a three-person panel for the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France in October 2019. The panel awarded Caroleng Investments $8.4 million plus interest after concluding that Bluestone had “materially breached” multiple aspects of the agreement with Mechel.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware confirmed the arbitration award in June 2021 and ordered Bluestone to pay Caroleng Investments $10.1 million, including $8.4 million in principal and $1.7 million in pre-award interest. The court also set a 9% interest rate retroactive to May 13, 2020 as long as the amount remains unpaid.
Justice, who is running for U.S. Senate in 2024, has not commented on the helicopter seizure. He has previously acknowledged the liabilities of his family-owned companies and said he was working to resolve them.
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