Bank sues Tamarack investors
BOISE – Credit Suisse has filed a federal lawsuit against Tamarack Resort investors Jean-Pierre Boespflug and Alfredo Miguel Afif, contending the two breached a written agreement to cover some debts owed by Tamarack Resort.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court earlier this week, Tamarack CEO Boespflug and Afif guaranteed that they would fulfill the debt obligations of Tamarack Resort if the resort defaulted on a $260 million loan.
In a separate case, Credit Suisse has already asked a judge to allow it to foreclose on the upscale resort property to recoup the unpaid $260 million loan.
The lawsuit against Boespflug and Afif alleges that Tamarack Resort was supposed to be depositing revenues into an account that Credit Suisse could control under the loan. Instead, Credit Suisse officials claim, they recently learned that Tamarack was depositing between $300,000 and $400,000 in weekly gross revenues into separate bank accounts that weren’t subject to Credit Suisse’s control.
Tamarack has also failed to pay more than $7,000 in property taxes, according to the lawsuit, permitted construction companies and others to file liens against the property totaling more than $13 million, and defaulted in several other ways.
Tamarack spokeswoman Jessica Flynn said Tamarack officials consider the lawsuit “part of the legal process” and would not comment on the matter.
Tamarack officials also refused to comment on the Thursday arrest of Boespflug by Valley County sheriff’s deputies, saying simply that it was a personal matter that Boespflug is “taking responsibility for resolving.”
In February, both Boespflug’s company Cross Atlantic Real Estate LLC – which owns 48 percent of the resort – and Afif’s company VPG Investments LLC – which owns 27 percent of the resort – filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court.
Earlier this month, Boespflug said he would consider selling the resort if necessary, but he would rather find the financing that the resort needs to thrive and continue running it himself.
Tamarack Resort opened Dec. 15, 2004, marketing itself to baby boomers with disposable income.
At the time, lots on the property were selling for upward of $450,000 and investors were predicting that the resort could become a $1.5 billion project.
The resort includes thousands of home and condominium sites, a ski area, a golf course and a marina on Lake Cascade.
In 2005 President Bush stayed at the resort, and by that fall condominium sites were selling for as much as $2.8 million.
The investors’ bankruptcy filings came after the French bank Societe Generale withdrew a $118 million construction loan for the resort – money that Boespflug has said Tamarack was counting on to pay part of the Credit Suisse debt.