Federal judge jails ex-billionaire for contempt until he explains where $13.8M from resort sale went
A federal judge says an ex-billionaire hasn’t fully disclosed what happened to the $13.8 million he got from selling a Mexican resort.
So he held Tim Blixseth in contempt and had him taken into custody Monday at a Helena, Montana, court hearing, reports the Associated Press.
The 64-year-old is to stay there until he fully accounts for the $13.8 million, said U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon.
Blixseth’s lawyer, Philip Stillman, says his client “has produced every single scrap of paper he was ordered to produce and could produce,” and hasn’t been told specifically by Haddon what is lacking. Stillman plans to file an emergency motion with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking Blixseth’s release.
The judge said during Monday’s hearing that lawyers for Blixseth made a “document dump” on Saturday evening, but “left it entirely for this court to figure out what it all means.” Meanwhile, Blixseth has not provided his personal bank records, the judge says.
Blixseth is the founder of the Yellowstone Club, a ski and golf resort near Big Sky with a $300,000 entrance fee. It went bankrupt after Blixseth turned the property over to his ex-wife in a 2008 divorce but is still operating under new ownership.
He is accused of misappropriating $270 million from the Yellowstone Club before he gave it up and using the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and purchase foreign property, including the Mexican resort he later sold despite a court order saying that he wasn’t to do so.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “On Forbes 400 list before 2008 business bankruptcy, ex-billionaire has paid $141.07 to trustee”
See also:
Associated Press: “Yellowstone Club’s Tim Blixseth owes nearly $74M in back taxes”
