The Aerial, BVI on Buck Island markets itself as a “private island wellness resort” where guests can “heal, elevate and transform” amid horses and zebras on a seaside ranch.
The property also paints itself as socially minded: It advertises local outreach efforts and a “Heal the Heroes” programme for veterans, and in 2021 it hosted the governor and other senior Virgin Islands officials at a disaster-resilience summit.
But a recent lawsuit filed by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti alleges that the resort has been partly supported with money meant for relief efforts in Ukraine.
Mr. Skrmetti claims that resort operator Britnie Turner and her husband Jeremy Locke, who also head the nonprofit Aerial Recovery, misdirected a $1 million charitable donation intended for humanitarian work in the war-torn country.
Instead, the state claims, the funds were deposited to Ms. Turner’s for-profit company and spent partly on projects connected to the Aerial resort — including more than $270,000 for the property’s “Redemption Ranch,” which offers guests “equine therapy” amidst the “gentle nuzzles and comforting presence” of “majestic rescue horses.”
The allegations
The Aug. 19 complaint alleges that between 2021 and 2022, Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke “purposefully conflated” their for-profit and nonprofit entities in correspondence with the National Christian Charitable Foundation, a major donor-advised charity in the United States.
As a result, the AG claims, a $1 million cheque restricted for Ukraine relief was deposited in a business account belonging to Ms. Turner’s for-profit limited-liability company.
From there, the AG alleges that the money was used for various expenditures unrelated to Ukraine aid, including:
• $300,000 for the for-profit company’s “tax liability;”
• $271,661.65 for “Redemption Ranch” expenses including payroll taxes, food and “operating supplies;”
• $106,400 for a “donor retreat;”
• $41,803.94 for “Heal the Heroes Platoon;” and
• $20,003.94 for a “caretaker summit,” among others.
“Ironically,” the complaint adds, “Aerial LLC also gave $179,000 of the donation to the nonprofit.”
Denying wrongdoing
Ms. Turner, Mr. Locke and the nonprofit deny wrongdoing, and they are asking the court to dismiss the claims.
In October court filings and subsequent statements, they insisted that any mis-deposit was an unintentional clerical error by an outside accounting contractor and that no one personally benefited.
They maintain that the money, though routed to the for-profit account, was used entirely for humanitarian purposes consistent with the nonprofit’s mission.
Though the nonprofit admits that the $1 million donation should have been deposited into its account, it told the court it is committed to “reclassifying the funds” and taking other corrective measures.
“Aerial Recovery deeply regrets that the events at issue in this lawsuit occurred and is committed to doing everything in its power to continue fulfilling its mission and serving as a force of good around the world,” the nonprofit stated in its response filing.
The nonprofit also told the Beacon it has launched an independent audit and “financial restatement” to ensure its accounting records “reflect donor intent with precision.”
“No fraud, misuse or misappropriation occurred,” it stated. “This clarification is proceeding under full independent oversight.”
The nonprofit added that the for-profit company — which recently changed its name from Aerial Recovery Group LLC to Mission Bridge Logistics LLC — exists “solely to support and enable” the nonprofit’s operations, including “staffing, logistics, transportation and deployment readiness.”
“Guided by our mission to save lives and stop evil, Aerial Recovery deploys elite teams of veterans and first responders into the world’s toughest environments to deliver life-saving aid and to protect the vulnerable,” the nonprofit told the Beacon.
What the AG wants
The Tennessee attorney general has challenged the defendants’ explanations and accused them of withholding information and lying about their actions.
His civil suit — filed under Tennessee’s Nonprofit Corporation Act and Charitable Beneficiaries Act — asks the Davidson County Chancery Court to hold Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke personally liable for breach of fiduciary duty; remove them from the nonprofit’s board; and compel repayment of the $1 million plus interest.
Mr. Skrmetti also obtained a temporary restraining order freezing the LLC’s bank accounts and blocking any further transfers of the nonprofit’s assets to the LLC or any other entity owned or operated by Ms. Turner or Mr. Locke.
“Aerial LLC is egregiously and unlawfully holding $1 million of the nonprofit’s money, but this case is not simply about making the nonprofit whole again,” the AG told the court in a memo in support of the restraining order. “The very integrity of the nonprofit’s business operations is threatened.”
Mr. Skrmetti added that the defendants had taken “no action” to remediate the diversion of funds.
“Instead, they claim their actions were lawful,” he wrote.
Describing The Aerial resort as an “offshore haven,” the AG also warned that the couple could use their VI ties and Ms. Turner’s ownership of the resort to avoid US regulation.
“[Ms. Turner] has a history of co-mingling assets between the nonprofit, Aerial LLC and her company in the British Virgin Islands,” his motion states.
The court found “good cause to believe” the law had been violated, and on Aug. 19 it granted the requested restraining order and barred the defendants from destroying financial records. On Oct. 27, the court converted the order into a temporary injunction lasting until trial unless modified.
Who is Britnie Turner?
Before launching The Aerial resort in 2021, Ms. Turner was already well known in Nashville, Tennessee, as a young real estate developer, motivational speaker and entrepreneur.
In interviews and social media posts, she has often told a rags-to-riches story: that she moved to Nashville at age 21, lived in her car while working unpaid to learn real estate, and founded Aerial Development Group in 2009.
Starting with house-flipping, she has said, she quickly built the business into a multimillion-dollar real estate firm.
Despite pushback from some communities she developed — much of it from residents concerned about the effects of rapid redevelopment and rising housing costs in parts of Nashville — her narrative attracted glowing coverage from the national media in the US.
In 2016, Forbes reported that Aerial Development Group had been ranked the sixth fastest-growing woman-owned company on a list compiled by the New York-based Women Presidents Organization.
The firm, Forbes stated, had annual revenue of roughly $27 million in 2015.
From early in her career, Ms. Turner’s public image mixed entrepreneurship with philanthropy.
She claimed to sponsor an orphan in Africa for each home sold, and she frequently spoke about her mission work abroad and her interest in fighting human trafficking.
In the Virgin Islands
With her Nashville business making national headlines, Ms. Turner turned her attention to the VI.
In December 2014, she attended an entrepreneur summit on Sir Richard Branson’s private Necker Island, she has said in interviews.
Inspired by the experience, she set about trying to acquire a private island of her own.
In February 2017, she and her then-husband, Carroll Keane III, signed an agreement to buy Buck Island and a nearby property in Bar Bay for $10 million, according to documents filed at the Land Registry.
But they faced delays securing financing, and their purchase of the properties had not been completed by the time Hurricane Irma devastated the territory in September 2017, land records show.
Days after the storm, Ms. Turner returned to the territory, posting videos of herself assisting with recovery efforts and meeting with government officials, Sir Richard and other business leaders.
Representation vs. records
Though Ms. Turner had not purchased Buck Island as initially planned, she moved ahead with its renovation and redevelopment.
In early 2021, she launched the Aerial resort.
Since the resort’s launch, she has reportedly described herself in interviews as the owner of Buck Island and suggested that she purchased it before Irma. The Aerial Recovery website echoes this narrative.
But VI land records tell a different story.
Following Ms. Turner’s unsuccessful attempt to buy the island in 2017, the property remained under the joint proprietorship of long-time owners Carl and Sharon Nilsen — who had divorced in 2009 — until Mr. Nilsen’s death in July 2018, the records show.
After that, his widow Ruth Nilsen inherited his 50-percent share, and in February 2021 ownership of the island was transferred to Innovation Island Limited — a VI company then owned equally by Ruth and Sharon Nilsen, according to land records.
Today, Innovation Island Limited still owns the island, but Aerial Recovery told the Beacon this month that Ms. Turner is now a company shareholder.
The nonprofit, though, declined to provide further details, and corporate ownership changes are not publicly listed in the VI.
“The ownership structure is private and not relevant to the matter raised by the Tennessee attorney general,” the nonprofit told the Beacon in response to questions about Ms. Turner’s ownership stake.
The LLC and the nonprofit
Buck Island itself, however, plays a key role in the Tennessee AG’s narrative.
Shortly before the Aerial resort launched on the island in early 2021, Ms. Turner founded Aerial Recovery Group LLC, a Tennessee-based disaster-response company inspired by her work in the VI after Irma.
On the company’s behalf, she signed a memorandum of understanding with the VI Department of Disaster Management in December 2020.
About three months later, the company hosted a “resiliency summit” at the new resort with participation from top VI officials including then-governor John Rankin, Deputy Governor David Archer Jr. and then-premier Andrew Fahie.
Alleged conflation
At the time of the summit, Aerial Recovery Group clearly described itself as a “company.”
But later that year, according to the Tennessee AG, Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke began conflating it with a nonprofit that they also led.
The alleged scheme began in September 2021, when the National Christian Charitable Foundation contacted the nonprofit, which was then named Aerial Global Community, according to the AG.
The NCCF said it was interested in supporting the nonprofit’s work after a donor had “recommended a donation to Aerial Recovery Group,” the AG’s complaint states.
Over the next seven months — up to April 6, 2022 — NCCF then issued 32 donations to the nonprofit totalling tens of thousands of dollars, according to the AG.
Though the cheques were made out to “Aerial Recovery Group” — the name of the LLC — they were deposited into the nonprofit’s account, according to the AG’s filings.
But a much bigger donation was treated differently.
Ukraine invasion
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, NCCF reached out again — this time seeking information from Mr. Locke about Aerial’s relief efforts in the war zone.
In Mr. Locke’s response, which the AG filed in court, he wrote that the “Aerial Recovery” team included “veterans and experts” who were “conducting high-risk extractions of orphans” and other vulnerable people endangered by the Russian invasion.
“We are also setting up a safe haven in Lviv which provides a safe place for these orphans to go inside of Ukrainian borders and under Ukrainian supervision,” Mr. Locke wrote on March 9, 2022.
‘Nearly identical’ on paper
Then, on March 31, 2022, the nonprofit filed paperwork with the Tennessee Secretary of State to use the name to “Aerial Recovery” and make other administrative updates, according to the AG’s filings.
Two days later, the AG claims, the LLC also made administrative changes.
“As of April 2, 2022, therefore, Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke had made the nonprofit and Aerial LLC’s operations, on paper, nearly identical — similar names, same address, same officers, same registered agent,” the AG’s complaint states. “The nonprofit never informed NCCF of this alignment.”
Five days later, NCCF issued a $1 million cheque to “Aerial Recovery Group” with a cover letter noting its intention that the money go to a public charity to be used for Ukraine aid, according to the AG’s complaint.
The AG alleges that Ms. Turner — then acting as the registered agent for both the LLC and the nonprofit — accepted the donation and deposited the cheque into the LLC’s account.
Most of the funds were later used for expenses unrelated to Ukraine, he added.
“These actions constitute fraudulent and dishonest conduct, gross abuse of authority, and the breach of the duties of both care and loyalty,” the AG stated.
Whistleblower complaint
The nonprofit’s other directors did not learn about the $1 million donation until more than a year later, in November 2023, the complaint states.
They confronted Ms. Turner on Feb. 15, 2024.
“During a recorded Zoom meeting, the board asked Ms. Turner why the nonprofit did not receive the donation,” the complaint states. “Ms. Turner responded, ‘The $1 million was a payment made from NCCF to ‘Aerial Recovery Group.’ That is what the cheque says.’”
Asked whether NCCF had a contract for services with the LLC that could justify the payment, Ms. Turner reportedly replied that no such contract existed — adding that Aerial LLC “didn’t particularly want the money because they ‘didn’t want to pay taxes’ on it,” according to the AG.
She also told the board members that the money was for a “capital injection” for the LLC, the complaint states.
About a month later, on March 19, 2024, the state of Tennessee received a whistleblower complaint about the $1 million donation.
Investigators then requested records from the nonprofit, including organisational documents, personnel lists and financial statements.
‘Woefully incomplete’
The nonprofit responded on May 15, 2024, sending more than 1,000 pages of material.
But according to the AG, the submission was “woefully incomplete.”
Follow-ups failed to clear up matters, the complaint alleges.
“Just as they did with the nonprofit’s directors and just as they did with NCCF, the defendants fraudulently concealed their activities from the state,” the AG stated.
The AG’s team also reached out to NCCF, which “strictly denies” giving permission to use the $1 million donation for Aerial LLC, according to the complaint.
An affidavit from the AG’s investigator also noted that the nonprofit did not report receiving any donations for the Aerial resort’s Redemption Ranch in 2022.
Instead, the nonprofit reported paying “a company called Elevate Island Management $296,800” to use the ranch’s services, according to the investigator.
“Elevate Island Management is owned by Britnie Turner,” the affidavit adds.
Defendants’ responses
Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke — who started dating in 2019 and married in January 2022, according to her social media posts — strongly dispute the details of the AG’s account.
In responses filed with the court, they separately denied that they or the nonprofit ever purposefully conflated the two entities or misled donors.
Each asserted they were never aware of any NCCF letter or other restrictions designating the funds for Ukraine.
Ms. Turner’s answer also denies “that she personally received the [$1 million] cheque, accepted the donation or deposited the cheque.”
Additionally, their filings challenge the attorney general’s characterisation of the Zoom board meeting cited in the complaint.
In a later statement provided to the Beacon, the nonprofit stressed that the cheque was made out to “Aerial Recovery Group” and that the nonprofit was still named “Aerial Global Community” at the time.
“As written, the cheque was correctly deposited by an independent accounting firm that received the mail and confirmed the name with [NCCF],” the nonprofit told the Beacon in a statement provided on Oct. 28.
“The funds were used for humanitarian and charitable initiatives aligned with the nonprofit’s stated mission and in accordance with the partnership it has with the nonprofit.”
Helping in Jamaica
The nonprofit’s statement also highlighted its ongoing relief work, which has continued despite the lawsuit.
“Aerial Recovery remains steadfast in its purpose: healing veterans, rescuing the vulnerable, and restoring communities worldwide,” it told the Beacon.
As part of those efforts, Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke both travelled to Jamaica to lead an Aerial Recovery team assisting in the response to Hurricane Melissa. From there, they advertised their work on social media.
One Facebook video, posted on Nov. 4, showed Mr. Locke in Jamaica’s Westmoreland Parish as he worked with other volunteers to distribute aid provided by another nonprofit.
“We are here,” stated a post introducing the video. “We will keep coming. We just need help to keep going. Donate at our link in bio or visit AerialRecovery.org.”
Requests for comment
Aside from emailed responses from the nonprofit, which were signed “Aerial Press Team,” Ms. Turner and Mr. Locke did not individually respond to requests for comment.
The Department of Disaster Management told the Beacon that no funds were paid to Aerial entities in connection with the 2021 disaster resiliency summit or otherwise.
Rosemary Calcese, another Aerial Recovery board member, was also named as a defendant in the Tennessee AG’s lawsuit, which seeks her removal from the board.
Ms. Calcese did not respond to requests for comment, but she did file a defence on Nov. 1 denying wrongdoing and claiming she was among the board members who “confronted” Ms. Turner during the February 2024 Zoom meeting.
NCCF, Sharon Nilsen, Ruth Nilsen and Mr. Keane did not respond to requests for comment.
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