CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Virginia bank says it will postpone plans to auction land at West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s posh resort in an effort to recover more than $300 million in delinquent business loans from the governor’s family .
In a filing Friday in Greenbrier County Circuit Court, Carter Bank & Trust of Martinsville, Virginia, said it will move the March 5 auction to a later date, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. The bank also asked for a hearing to be postponed for Tuesday on a request by the Greenbrier Sporting Club in White Sulfur Springs for a preliminary injunction against the bank.
Carter Bank published a legal notice in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Feb. 6 announcing the March 5 auction in Lewisburg involving land owned by the Greenbrier Sporting Club. Carter Bank has said it will “aggressively” pursue $302 million in principal debt, plus interest and fees, from companies owned by the governor’s family.
In the filing Friday, Carter Bank said it “understands that homeowners within the Greenbrier Sporting Club development are also very interested in this matter and may be considering taking action themselves.”
The sports club is a private equity club and residential community that opened in 2000. Justice bought the resort out of bankruptcy in 2009. In 2017, he began serving the first of his two terms as governor.
The sports club’s Feb. 7 complaint said the auction would jeopardize thousands of jobs and cause “serious harm” to both the club and the Greenbrier Resort, which has housed U.S. presidents and royalty and is the province’s largest employer . The complaint also sought a jury trial to resolve the Justice family’s claims against Carter Bank.
Between 2021 and 2023, the Justice companies attempted at least four times to pivot their banking operations from Carter Bank to other lenders willing to pay off some or all of their loans to Carter Bank. But Carter Bank “blocked or sabotaged” the transfer efforts, the complaint said.
A federal lawsuit filed against the bank by the Justice companies in November is pending.
Justice, which owns dozens of companies, has also been the subject of numerous lawsuits alleging he has been late in paying millions of dollars in fines, for example for unsafe working conditions in his coal mines.
Justice, a Republican, is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Joe Manchin. Manchin has said he will not seek re-election.
