Investors in Braidy Industries must be disclosed ‘forthwith,’ judge rules
Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd has once again told the Bevin Administration that it must release the names of investors in the partially state-owned Braidy Industries, which plans to build an aluminum mill in northeastern Kentucky.
Shepherd, in a 13-page order released Tuesday, said he had reviewed a Kentucky Court of Appeals ruling last May 17 that upheld part of his 2018 ruling that the state Cabinet for Economic and Development Cabinet had violated the state’s Open Records Act by refusing to release documents to The Courier Journal that reveal the identity of stockholders or investors in Braidy Industries.
The appellate court had reversed the part of Shepherd’s decision that said certain other information in the state’s records about Braidy must also be released.
The Kentucky Supreme Court decided not to hear the case. It then was sent back to Shepherd to permit the cabinet to redact any information in the various documents that did not contain the names of Braidy’s stockholders or investors.
Shepherd said in Tuesday’s ruling that the cabinet submitted numerous documents for review and he carefully examined each one.
The judge said he would let the state withhold those documents but he had found four documents “that fall squarely within the scope of the Open Records Act request” and should be released with only minor redactions.
Shepherd noted that the newspaper’s original request “did not seek merely the names of the investors, but the documents that included the names of the investors.”
He also said with recent reports that Braidy has negotiated additional capital investments from Russian investors, “the taxpayers of Kentucky have a heightened interest in public disclosure and a legitimate need to confirm the expectation that the rights of the public have been adequately protected by the cabinet.”
The state initially invested $15 million in the project with promises of more than 500 jobs with good pay. Earlier this year, it was announced that Rusal, a Russsian aluminum company, planned to invest $200 million in the $1.7 billion project that hopes to open in 2021.
Louisville’s WDRB-TV reported this week that Braidy Industries CEO Craig Bouchard said he still needs to raise “a few hundred million dollars” before building the mill. The project was announced more than two years ago.
Shepherd said the documents should be released “forthwith” to the newspaper unless the state moves for injunctive relief within the next five days.
If that occurs, the judge said, the court would stay compliance with the order pending a final ruling.
Attorney General Andy Beshear said in October 2017 that the records should be disclosed. In December 2017, Braidy identified several people as shareholders.
The state Economic Development Cabinet said it will appeal Shepherd’s Tuesday ruling. Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for the newspaper, could not be immediately reached for comment.
This story was originally published November 12, 2019 at 5:04 PM.
