UNION – The $8 million lien filed against the daughter of Gov. Jim Justice also was filed in Monroe County.
Earlier this week, The West Virginia Record reported about a federal tax lien filed March 26 in Greenbrier County Clerk Robin Loudermilk’s office by the Internal Revenue Service against Jill Justice Long. While the filing provides little information other than numbers, it does show all of the liens listed are for personal income taxes for Justice Long, who now is president of The Greenbrier resort.
The same lien was filed the same day in Monroe County Clerk Donald J. Evans’ office as well, courthouse documents show.
A tax expert who didn’t want to be identified said that practice is common when a person or a business has property and interests in different counties.
He also questioned how Justice Long and her husband could have sold their Lewisburg home earlier this month when a federal tax lien was looming.
“The purpose of a tax lien is, in part, to tie up real estate,” he told The Record. “How in the hell did she sell that house with a lien filed against it?
“A simple title search should have shown the lien was out there. If she didn’t disclose the existence of the lien, that’s a crime. You get notice of the lien by certified mail.”
With a federal tax lien of more than $8 million filed against her, the daughter of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and her husband recently sold their Lewisburg home for nearly $1 million.
Jill Justice Long and Adam Long’s 5,000-plus square foot home, built on about four acres on Old White Drive in Greenbrier Pines, sold for $910,000 on July 9 to Michael and Martha Perilli.
“This gorgeous home boasts 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms,” the online real estate listing states. “Inside the home you will find 3 fire places, your dream kitchen, a dressing room, a full basement, an oversized garage, and much more!
“If you are searching for privacy and convenience this home is for you.”
For some reason, the property was first listed July 19, 10 days after it actually sold. The Coldwell Banker listing also says the original asking price was $975,000. The Longs purchased the home for $695,000 in September 2017.
Like the Justice family, the Perilli family is involved in the coal industry.
Michael Perilli runs Peerless Coal and Peerless Minerals in Summersville. A coal broker, Perilli has served on numerous boards including the West Virginia Coal Association. He also attended Marshall University around the same time as Jim Justice.
Another tax expert, who also wished to remain anonymous, previously told The Record the lien likely related to the family’s sale of coal businesses to a Russian company.
A bulk of the $8,033,935.45 total is from her personal income taxes for 2009. That amount is more than $6.5 million. Justice Long was in med school in 2009, but she also was listed as an owner in Delaware Court of Chancery filings related to a 2014 lawsuit filed by Mechel Bluestone and Mechel Mining against the James C. Justice Companies, the governor and family.
Her father purchased The Greenbrier in 2009 as well, and the Russian company Mechel bought the Justice family coal business Bluestone Coal for $436 million in cash and 83.3 million Mechel preferred shares. Mechel sold Bluestone assets back to Justice in 2015 for $5 million.
Documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also show Justice Long received and sold Mechel stock in 2009.
The second anonymous tax expert said a combination of cash at the close of that Mechel sale in 2009 and selling Mechel stock “could leave a tax bill in that ballpark.” The same expert did say it was “odd that she didn’t pay but the others (the governor, his son Jay Justice and James C. Justice Companies Inc.) did.”
The first tax expert said if Justice Long owes that much to the IRS, she likely had three times more money than that and spent it or simply didn’t file a return. But he said he doubted that last scenario was the case.
He also said Justice Long likely has a state tax bill of about $2 million based on the federal lien. He also noted that having a local Virginia-based revenue officer handling the matter is “probably bad news for her (Justice Long).”
Another amount on the tax lien of almost $1 million is from her personal income taxes for 2012. The other years listed are 2011, 2013 and 2017.
The residence address listed is 302 South Jefferson Street in Roanoke, Virginia. That address is the business address for several companies owned by the Justice family, including Bluestone Industries, Southern Coal and Justice Management Services.
The lien says the IRS already has made a demand for payment with no success. With the lien, the IRS can demand property and rights to property owed by Justice Long.
The lien also mentions the lien is being handled by the IRS Small Business/Self Employed Division, and it is signed by a revenue officer from an IRS office with a Virginia area code. A spokesman for the IRS said the agency could not provide any other information regarding the lien.
In addition, calls and messages to The Greenbrier seeking information were not returned. The same goes for the Greenbrier County law office of Justice Long’s husband Adam Long. The governor’s office said it had no comment at this time.
A physician, Justice Long also practices at The Greenbrier Clinic. She is a graduate of Marshall University and The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, Virginia.
In 2019, Justice Long was mentioned in an Associated Press report regarding a federal subpoena involving The Greenbrier and Old White Charities, a nonprofit related to the resort. The subpoena seemed to focus on charitable work related to golf tournaments held at the resort.
Gov. Justice denied any wrongdoing in response to the federal subpoena. The Greenbrier did host a PGA event from 2010 to 2019 except for 2016 when flooding canceled the event. Although the parties had a contract through 2026, the event was removed from the PGA schedule in 2020 via “a mutual agreement.”