AeroVanti Shutters amid fraud charges

The future of private aviation membership club AeroVanti remains uncertain amid reports that the company has largely shut down operations. Various sources say the company hasn’t made payroll since June 6, left a long trail of unpaid invoices that resulted in the repossessing of at least one plane, is the target of an enforcement investigation by FAA law that could result in criminal charges and civil suits. litigation alleging fraud. The FAA investigation is believed to have focused on the fact that AeroVanti was operating under Part 91F when it should have been flying under stricter Part 135 restrictions.

Scott Hopes, named just six days ago as the company’s CEO, is also being investigated for allegedly destroying public records in his former position as administrator of Manatee County, Florida. which he left in February. Hopes denied any wrongdoing. Aerovanti did not respond to AIN‘s requests for comment before press time.

In a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of AeroVanti customers on May 22, plaintiffs’ attorneys allege the company engaged in widespread fraud, including running a network of “shell” companies designed to deliberately defraud customers and “overstating the rapid growth of new members, the number of aircraft in its ‘fleet’ and the significant amount of investor-led funding received to support expansion. »

Detailed allegations include that at any given time no more than three AeroVanti aircraft were airworthy, $3 million secured from 20 “Top Gun” program customers to acquire and refurbish five Piaggio Avanti P.180s were misdirected to professional sports sponsors, and that all five of these aircraft “have since been repossessed or found to be unairworthy or in a state of complete disrepair”. It concludes that the company’s founder, Patrick Britton-Harr, “has developed an intricate web of deception by creating interdependent entities that are each alter egos of each other.”