Ski resort owner's lawyer: Fraud allegations 'flat false'

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - A lawyer for a Miami businessman accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of orchestrating a massive eight-year fraud scheme involving developments in Vermont says the allegations are "flat false."

David Gordon says Jay Peak ski resort owner Ariel Quiros was entitled to every dollar he used. He says the money was fees that investors agreed to pay and profits.

Quiros and Jay Peak president Bill Stenger are accused in state and federal complaints of misusing in "Ponzi-like fashion" more than $200 million of about $400 million raised from foreign investors through a special visa program.

Gordon says the SEC is ignoring that there was over $120 million that Quiros had a right to use.

Stenger told the Caledonian Record that he's confident he'll be cleared of any wrongdoing.