A foreign creditor that previously funded and supported the Wohali development near Coalville is now suing the luxury real estate company and key members of its leadership team for violating a loan agreement and spurring a federal bankruptcy case.
EB5AN is a group of foreign investors who have repeatedly claimed they have the largest stake in the Wohali development as the real estate business faces Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court. The group has loaned at least $6.8 million to Wohali to aid in its restructuring efforts and is likely first in line to acquire the property if it is put up for auction later this month, as expected.
But last week, EB5AN filed a lawsuit in Summit County’s Third District Court against Wohali Partners LLC, its leadership team and other conglomerates involved in pitching and constructing the luxury real estate development and golf course.
The complaint said EB5AN entered a loan agreement in 2022 to lend Wohali up to $79.2 million to fund the community’s development. As part of the agreement, each “original member” who joined the Wohali neighborhood pledged to hand over their membership interests to EB5AN as financial security rather than pledging their funding and interests directly to the Wohali landowners and development team.
The membership pledge was designed to permit EB5AN to foreclose on and take control of the property “without resorting to bankruptcy proceedings.”
Court documents claimed Wohali owed EB5AN approximately $86 million, including interest and other fees, by the time the company declared bankruptcy last summer. However, Wohali had already defaulted on its EB5AN loan by Jan. 10, 2025.
The lawsuit said the pledge agreements prohibited each original member from transferring their membership interests without EB5AN’s written consent. Despite that, though, the original members allegedly transferred their interests to another Wohali subsidiary in October 2024 without the investment group’s permission.
“The interest transfer directly and substantially damaged EB5,” the complaint said. “Had EB5 been able to exercise those rights, Wohali Land’s bankruptcy filing would have been unnecessary, and EB5 would have avoided the substantial costs it has incurred in connection with the bankruptcy case, including attorneys’ fees, DIP financing costs and other expenses.”
Court documents stated that if the membership pledges had not been transferred and EB5AN had retained its ability to foreclose on the Wohali property, then the federal bankruptcy case would never have been filed.
The lawsuit additionally said that Wohali Partners held the title to three parcels of property, which were worth $2 million each, that were “critical” to the development because of their road access. However, those parcels were transferred to another company, identified in court filings as “BLD,” which was a conglomerate of investment groups that spearheaded the original project and pursued financing.
Court documents claimed the transfer was made to benefit the members of those investment groups, who “are insiders of Wohali Partners.” It claimed the transfer was made with the “actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud” EB5AN and other creditors and that the deal may indicate signs of fraud.
Specifically, the complaint pointed out that the BLD group was formed on the same day as the transfer, “indicating a pre-arranged deal without disclosure,” at a time when the company was “subject to substantial claims” because of its ongoing financial issues.
The lawsuit additionally claimed that Wohali leadership purchased heavy equipment with $7.9 million from EB5AN’s loans and that the equipment was sold in mid-2025 “while the EB5 loan was outstanding and Wohali Land’s financial difficulties were escalating.”
The proceeds from the sale were not paid back to EB5AN and were instead “paid” to Jonathan Cox, a financial partner who stepped in to help the Wohali project last summer.
The complaint requested Summit County Third District Judge Matthew Bates award compensatory damages to EB5AN for the costs it has incurred as part of the federal bankruptcy proceedings, reimburse EB5AN for the sold equipment and return the BLD parcels to Wohali Partners’ ownership or pay EB5AN for their value.
Wohali’s attorneys have not yet responded to the lawsuit in court, and there are no hearing dates scheduled as of Tuesday afternoon.