A far-fetched coal-by-rail export proposal stirred outrage in Northern California before fizzling. Was there ever anything to it?
Its first federal filing did not disclose any backers or name Wight or any other get together. At the time, the company claimed it was “capitalized to the tune of $1.2 billion.”
But on the heels of the company’s most current filing in June, Huffman and Thompson, who together symbolize the North Bay and North Coastline in the Household, and Padilla, California’s junior senator, accused Wight of submitting a falsified financial institution assertion to the Area Transportation Board.
The statement was a action in the proposed takeover bid wherever the North Coastline Railroad Co. experienced to display the economic wherewithal to deal with upkeep charges and the rate of scrap steel alongside the line.
To very clear that threshold, the company’s legal professionals submitted a bank statement from Self Enable Federal Credit Union professing an account balance of $15.7 million. But the inadequately redacted assertion indicated the fund’s harmony hovered on typical around $1,000, and experienced dipped as very low as $69.96 in the months right before Wight claimed the multimillion dollar sum.
An official with the financial institution has because cast even further doubt on the filing.
“The (doc) is not a valid assertion from Self-Support Credit Union,” lender spokesperson Jenny Shields wrote in a June 21 e mail to The Push Democrat.
It’s not clear it if the outcry from the 3 California lawmakers has spurred any legislation enforcement involvement. Team associates for Huffman and Padilla informed The Press Democrat this 7 days they ended up not knowledgeable of any investigations by authorities.
Getting turned down the North Coastline Railroad Co.’s bid, the Surface area Transportation Board is unlikely to look into the make any difference, in accordance to company spokesperson Michael Booth.
The smaller agency has about 150 employees. “It’s not like we have an investigative arm,” Booth reported.
Wight has not responded to emails and voicemails from The Press Democrat about months considering that the North Coast Railroad Co.’s first filing past year.
On Wednesday, a man or woman who stated his identify was Adam and that he was Wight’s assistant responded to a reporter’s latest inquiry.
“I am managing (Wight’s) e-mail and calls now because of to regrettable instances,” the human being wrote, applying Wight’s email deal with with TerraNova Tactics, a Wyoming-registered consulting organization where by he is a principal. “Mr. Wight is now in the medical center adhering to an accident and candidly it’s not likely the greatest. We stay hopeful for his recovery, and in the meantime, if you could e-mail any thoughts you may well have, I will do my most effective to get responses to your inquiries.”
No 1 responded to a stick to-up e mail from The Press Democrat with questions, which includes a request for the assistant’s very last title and cell phone range.
‘Who is funding the coal prepare?’
Wimbish, the attorney with Chicago company Fletcher and Sippel, has not responded to various requests for remark on the allegations of fraudulent filing and other questions about the coal export proposal.
For McGuire, Wimbish’s involvement stays a essential unanswered dilemma. A former legal professional for the Surface area Transportation Board, Wimbish is an knowledgeable railroad legal professional.
McGuire solid question on the thought Wight by yourself experienced the resources to spend for significant-run authorized illustration.
“Someone was paying out a single of the most respected lawyers (in the area) trying to progress this proposal,” he stated. “Who is funding the coal teach?”
In late September, Wight informed the Eureka-primarily based Missing Coast Outpost that he was in discussions with “dozens and dozens of shippers” about possibilities for the rail line, ended up his bid for handle of it to triumph. He pushed back on reviews that his primary intention was shipping and delivery coal, but also he declined to rule out that cargo.
Later that thirty day period, the Salt Lake Tribune uncovered and printed an email indicating that in March 2021, Wight spoke with a Utah state formal and the leaders of two federally identified tribal nations — Montana’s coal-abundant Crow Tribe and the Wiyot Tribe whose reservation is on the shore of Humboldt Bay. Earlier reporting in the Misplaced Coastline Outpost indicated Wight experienced held a conference in Eureka with a coal-friendly Utah condition senator.
But amid intensifying community scrutiny, officers with the two the Wiyot Tribe and Utah Inland Port Authority distanced on their own from the undertaking. Each entities mentioned it hadn’t gained critical consideration. The Crow Tribe did not react to requests for remark.
Other ventures under scrutiny
Wight’s other business enterprise ventures also increase inquiries.
Wight’s lender assertion showed money transactions with two other confined liability firms. A person is TerraNova Approaches, and the other is Twin Hawkes Progress Corporation. E-mail addresses and mobile phone quantities for the firms posted on the web also tie them to Wight.
