West Virginia Lottery Gives Last-Minute License Approval For Greenbrier Casino

However, the Greenbrier will need to submit to quarterly reviews of its finances in the new fiscal year that began today, after issues were raised.

The Lottery Commission held an emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon by conference call to approve the renewal for the Greenbrier Casino Club after resort officials submitted the required audit report after the Greenbrier missed an internal March 20 deadline to submit the auditor materials to Lottery officials and accounting firm Suttle and Stalnaker.

“I’m glad that we’ve come to a good decision and move forward with this and have no impact to the people of West Virginia that are familiar and take part in the Greenbrier’s activity,” said Lottery Commission Chairman Kenneth Greear. “I’m glad we came to a good conclusion on that.”

“We’re very appreciative of the, uh, hard work on the part of the staff … and everybody who has worked with us on getting this process completed on a little bit of a compressed time frame,” said Steve Ruby, an attorney representing the Greenbrier and the Justice family. “We’re very grateful for the work that the commission and the staff always do.”

According to WV MetroNews, the Lottery Commission approved license renewals for the state’s four other casinos: Mardi Gras Casino and Resort in Nitro; Mountaineer Casino Resort in New Cumberland; Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races; and Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack.

In that same meeting, the commission voted not to renew the Greenbrier Casino Club’s license until the required audit report was submitted, agreeing to call an emergency meeting to approve the license once the materials were received.

During Tuesday’s emergency meeting, financial officials with the Lottery went over the information submitted by the Greenbrier and the Justice family covering calendar year 2025. According to the report, the Greenbrier Casino Club reported nearly $15 million in revenues and approximately $7.8 million in expenses for a net income of $6.9 million.

The total assets of the Greenbrier Resort and associated amenities, including the casino and the sporting club, came to more than $500 million according to the Justice family’s financial report. However, the report showed that notes receivable line item was growing, meaning that the Justice family was taking money out of the Greenbrier and transferring it to the other businesses in the Justice family portfolio, managed day-to-day by Sen. Justice’s adult children.

Also, the report showed that the outstanding loans owed by the Justice family for the Greenbrier matured on April 1 and have yet to be refinanced. Total liabilities for the Greenbrier went from approximately $90 million in 2024 to $260 million in 2025.

“There are issues there, because they have negative working capital of about $240 million,” said Chris Lambert, an outside financial consultant with Suttle and Stalnaker. “Moving down to the income statement though, the revenue was approximately $158 million and (net) income was just over $9 million, so they are profitable, though it was a decrease from (2024).”

Lambert recommended renewing the Greenbrier Casino Club’s license, but also recommended that the casino go on a watch list and submit financial information to the Lottery every three months.

“I have no reservations about recommending that they be relicensed,” Lambert said. “I probably would recommend that they go on a watch until they have their debt refinanced so that we can see that (financials have) normalized and stabilized.”

Michelle Painter, chief financial officer for the West Virginia Lottery, concurred with Lambert’s recommendations.

“I reviewed the financial statements in detail with Chris and I do agree with what he says about the working capital but … they are profitable,” Painter said. “I also concur with putting them on financial watch for a few reasons. The fact that the (audit) report was late. We did expect it in March. Also, the fact that they’ve stated numerous times that they’ve had quite a bit of turnover in their financial department with staff, and the working capital issue. I do think that that deserves to be looked at.”

According to state code, the Lottery Commission is required to renew racetrack video lottery licenses and permits annually by July 1 of each year. State Code requires owners of casinos to submit the applicable renewal fee, complete all renewal forms, and show that it is in compliance with all qualifications for a license or permit.

The internal deadline the Lottery set for casinos to submit the required information for license renewal was March 20 in order to give staff and its outside accounting firm time to review the information prior to renewing licenses at its June meeting prior to the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 380 in 1999, allowing residents in Greenbrier County to vote to allow video lottery and table games at the Greenbrier Resort despite the resort not having greyhound or horse racing.

“The Legislature finds and declares that the tourism industry plays a critical role in the economy of this state and that a substantial state interest exists in protecting that industry,” according to the legislative findings included in SB 380. “It further finds and declares that the authorization of the operation of a gaming facility at (the Greenbrier) will serve to protect and enhance the tourism industry, and indirectly other segments of the economy of this state, by providing a resort hotel amenity which is becoming increasingly important to many actual and potential resort hotel patrons.”

Voters in Greenbrier County rejected adding a casino at the Greenbrier in 2000 but approved allowing casino gambling at the historic resort in 2008. However, the Greenbrier Casino Club would not become a reality until after Jim Justice, the future two-term governor and current U.S. senator, bought the Greenbrier from railroad company CSX in 2009.

The Greenbrier Casino Resort opened to hotel patrons in 2010 in a star-studded affair, with then-governor Joe Manchin and former first lady Gayle Manchin, Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Shaquille O’Neil, Jessica Simpson, Debbie Reynolds, Lionel Richie, Brooke Shields, and Jane Seymour.

Justice went on to become governor, first as a Democrat and later switching to Republican, in 2017. He was elected to serve in the U.S. Senate in 2024, succeeding Manchin, who retired after switching from Democrat to independent after succeeding the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd in 2010 and following two full six-year terms beginning in 2012.

The Greenbrier has been the center of a tug-of-war since April between the Justice family and its new loan holder, Texas-based TRT Holdings, which is seeking a ruling in federal court to place the Greenbrier in receivership and a preliminary injunction to block interference in Greenbrier operations by the Justice family.

The federal case is on pause after the Justice family announced last month that it was in the process of receiving up to a $500 million loan from New York-based Kennedy Lewis Investment Management to refinance existing debt and fund capital improvements at The Greenbrier.

If finalized, that loan would be secured by the Greenbrier Resort and connected properties as well as land and timber assets owned by the Justice family. The proposed deal also involves loan guarantees secured by Sen. Justice and other members of the Justice family.

The Justice family has a pending case in Greenbrier County Circuit Court against TRT Holdings, the owner of more than 50 hotels including a luxury resort 40 miles away from the Greenbrier in Virginia, and Virginia-based Carter Bank and Trust, the Greenbrier’s previous loan holder.

The Justice family alleges Carter Bank and TRT Holdings engaged in a deceptive conspiracy to orchestrate a hostile takeover of the Greenbrier by unlawfully selling and acquiring the hotel’s debt. TRT Holdings has denied these claims. TRT Holdings bought the remaining Greenbrier loan debt, now more than $370 million, from Carter Bank in March.

West Virginia Lottery Acting Director David Bradley also said staff had received a letter of good standing for the Greenbrier on behalf of the state Tax Division despite the Greenbrier owing more than $4 million in sales and income tax withholding dollars.

According to court filings, there are 10 active tax liens against the Greenbrier -- including a lien for not remitting personal income tax collections -- dating back to May 2025 through November 2025 totaling more than $4.4 million in back taxes not remitted to the State of West Virginia, including additions and penalties.