Federal interview of Burlington College trustee shows investigation active in fall

A federal grand jury heard evidence from a former member of the Burlington College Board of Trustees in late October regarding fundraising that took place before school's purchase of its new North Avenue campus.

The deal in 2010 was orchestrated by Jane O'Meara Sanders, who was at that point president of the now-defunct college. The property was purchased from the Roman Catholic Church for $10 million.

Burlington College blamed debt when it closed in May of 2016.

Federal authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office, have been investigating the property deal. A local Republican attorney has also accused Sanders, wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., of bank fraud.

Robin Lloyd, the former trustee, said she was approached by two FBI agents last year, but she declined to speak to them without a lawyer present. She said the next time the agency came to her home, they gave her a subpoena to testify before a grand jury.

Lloyd said Sunday that she met with a prosecutor on the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Van de Graaf, and her lawyer on Oct. 26, 2017, in the Federal Building on Elmwood Avenue. She then testified before a panel of about 15 to 20 people.

"They're trying to pull together where did the money come from to enable Burlington College to convince (People's United Bank) and the diocese to go ahead with the deal," Lloyd said.

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VTDigger.org was first to report Lloyd's testimony to a grand jury.

Speaking for the Sanders family, Jeff Weaver issued a statement in reaction to the VTDigger.org story on Sunday.

"We have absolutely no reason to believe that there is a grand jury empanelled to examine Burlington College, Dr. Jane Sanders, or any aspect of Dr. Sanders's service as president of Burlington College," Weaver said. "As best we can tell, the current news reports are simply recycling an account of a government interview of a witness from several months ago. Nothing new here."

Lloyd is the former chairwoman of the Burlington College's development committee, and she said she was asked mainly timeline questions about the period from 2010 to 2011.

"He would show me a paper, and I provided papers," Lloyd said Sunday. She said she had retained meeting minutes and other documents around efforts to reach donors.

Grand jury proceedings are typically held in secret, and the panel determines whether there is enough evidence to bring criminal charges in a case.

It is unclear whether the grand jury was called specifically to hear the Burlington College case.

Van de Graaf declined to comment specifically on the case, but he said that generally, grand jury members serve on a panel for one year to 18 months and hear testimony from multiple cases. He said only under very unique circumstances would a special grand jury be convened.

Van de Graaf added that not all testimony leads to an indictment, and sometimes the panel can act as an investigatory body.

"Speaking generally, people can refuse to talk to the cops," Van de Graaf said. "But, if you get a grand jury subpoena, you can't refuse to answer the questions unless you have a privilege. That's part of what a grand jury can do is get the testimony of people."

It is unknown whether others have been called to testify before a grand jury. Fellow trustee at the time David Dunn said Sunday that he had been interviewed by the FBIin the fall of 2017, but he had heard nothing since then. He declined to provide specifics around the conversation, but he said the interview with FBI agents from the Vermont field office lasted about one and a half hours.

Former trustee Yves Bradley told VTDigger that he had also been contacted by the FBI, but he had not been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. An attempt to reach another trustee was unsuccessful.

Lloyd said she does not think Sanders acted in a fraudulent manner at the time of the sale.

"We as a board were supportive of acquiring the property, and hoped for success," she said. "We were glad that the purchase was achieved. Perhaps it was overreach, looking back on it, but at the time, it seemed to me it was the perfect place for a small college."

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.