LEWISBURG – The $8 million federal tax lien against Gov. Jim Justice’s daughter has decreased by more than $130,000 after she and her husband sold their home last month.
According to documents filed in Greenbrier County Clerk Robin Loudermilk’s office, the Internal Revenue Service filed a Certificate of Discharge of Property From Federal Tax Lien on July 26.
“Jillian Justice Long … is indebted to the United States for unpaid internal revenue tax in the sum of $8,033.935.45,” the document states. “The Internal Revenue Service acknowledges receipt of $131,006.23, the Internal Revenue Service discharges the above described property from the lien.
The Justice Long home sold for $910,000 in July.
“However, the lien remains in effect for all other property or rights to property, to which the lien is attached.”
A tax expert who wished to not be identified said the bulk of the $910,000 sale price of the home likely went to pay off the mortgage. The expert said the remaining amount likely was what the IRS received.
On July 9, 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 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.
In March, a notice of a federal tax lien was filed March 26 in Greenbrier County Clerk Robin Loudermilk’s office by the Internal Revenue Service against Jill Justice Long. It also was filed the same day in Monroe County. 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.
A bulk of the 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.
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 owned 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.”
News of financial issues regarding the Justice family and their businesses have been in headlines once against recently.
Earlier this week, The West Virginia Record reported that a company owned by Gov. Justice and his family owes almost $10 million related to a federal court judgment that was handed down almost two years ago.
According to an Abstract of Judgment filed in U.S. District Court, judgment was rendered September 16, 2019, against Kirby Land Company after it had been sued the previous year by Komatsu, which manufactures construction, mining, forestry and military equipment as well as diesel engines and industrial equipment.
Gov. Justice and his daughter Jill Justice Long are listed as directors of Kirby Land Company with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office, and his son Jay is listed as president. James T. Miller is listed as secretary and treasurer, and Stephen Ball is listed as vice president.
According to court documents, Komatsu originally loaned Kirby Land $8.15 million on April 8, 2016. That loan later was increased to $10 million.
Kirby Land defaulted on the loan, and Komatsu filed to collect. The Abstract of Judgement was filed November 6, 2019, in federal court seeking the amount of $9,301,029.80 plus late fees of $137,605.63 for a total of $9,438,635.43 not including post-judgment interest.
As of August 3, no entry in the federal court docket shows the judgment as being paid in any way by Kirby Land. No entries have been filed in the case since October 19, 2020.
Last month, The Record also reported that Justice-owned businesses owe nearly $100,000 in 2020 property taxes in McDowell County.
According to information from the McDowell County Sheriff’s office, the companies have at least seven tax tickets totaling $96,061.23 if they were by July 31.
The bulk of that amount is one for Bluestone Coal Corp. for $50,733.49. The next largest is one for Pay Car Mining for $14,891.51, and the third largest is one for Justice Highwall Mining for $10,516.84. The others are for Justice Low Seam Mining ($8,738.55), Bluestone Coal Corp. ($7,879.29), National Resources ($1,755.79) and Bluestone Industries ($1,545.76).
The one for National Resources is for real estate, and the one Bluestone Industries is for six vehicles. The rest seem to be for business machinery.
The tax expert said if taxes on real estate aren’t paid, it can go to a sheriff’s sale, usually in November, to sell the lien on the property. If someone buys the lien, that person has two years to perfect the lien and get the deed to the property.
If it’s for vehicles and machinery, the tax expert said it isn’t as simple.
“The county basically is f---ed,” the tax expert said. “You can go to circuit court to collect, but it’s very difficult to do. And the probability of success is low, so it’s not done often. And Justice and his people surely know that.”
He also said property taxes on coal company equipment often are huge compared to a company’s real estate and vehicle property taxes.
During his bi-weekly COVID press conference July 27, Justice was asked about recent media coverage regarding financial issues involving his businesses and family members. Instead of answering the question, he instead said such coverage should be positive.
“I’m super respectful and I try to answer any question,” Justice said during the briefing. “I’ve told everyone that if you’ll tend to the business of the state of West Virginia as I’m tending to the business of the state and you’ll just stay out of my family’s personal stuff, you’ll find the final outcomes will be exactly what I’ve told you they’ll be. They’ll be worked out. …
“From the standpoint of legality and everything else, you can continue to run down rat holes and try to come up with stuff here and there, but at the end of the day I hope and pray, at least, that you’ll report the final outcomes.”
In March, the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax lien of more than $1 million against The Greenbrier Hotel Corp., which is owned and operated by Justice’s family. The IRS filed several liens against Justice businesses and even his daughter Jill Justice Long in March.
The one against the Greenbrier, filed in Greenbrier County Clerk Robin Loudermilk’s office, is coded as 941, which designates employment taxes. It lists three different balances of $621,601.28 for the period ending June 30, 2018, $248,851.36 for the period ending December 31, 2018, and $206,530.59 for the period ending March 31, 2019.
The lien indicates the IRS can go after additional penalties, interest and costs. It also says it can collect on property and rights to property. It says an earlier demand for payment had been made but no payment was made.
Also in March, a lien of $80,224.22 was filed against The Greenbrier Clinic for employment taxes as well. In addition to serving as president of The Greenbrier, Jill Justice Long is a physician at The Greenbrier Clinic.
Another 941 tax lien was filed against The Greenbrier on June 22 for $395,722.
Also in March, a lien of more than $8 million was filed against Jill Justice Long over personal income taxes dating back to 2009, which is the same year the Justices’ Bluestone Coal Corp. was sold to a Russian company and the same year the family purchased The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy.
Until this year, Justice was listed by Forbes as the state’s only billionaire. That designation changed because of his company’s financial troubles, most notably with Greensill. Justice’s businesses sued Greensill regarding loans taken in 2018. Greensill sold the loans to investment funds managed by Credit Suisse, which now seeks to recover the money from major borrowers, which includes Justice’s Bluestone Resources.
In addition, Justice and his businesses also are fighting with Carter Bank & Trust over loans. Justice and his companies have sued the bank, claiming it became hard to deal with in recent years. The bank, in turn, has filed claims to $58 million in defaulted loans personally guaranteed by Justice and his wife Cathy for The Greenbrier Sporting Club and Oakhurst Club. Those loans went into default June 1.
Last month, Justice’s attorneys filed a motion saying the $58 million claim should be set aside until the lawsuit against Carter Bank & Trust is resolved. That lawsuit was filed May 31, a day before the