Zetta Jet boss, Geoffery Cassidy, spent lavishly before company went bust
Geoffery Cassidy, the boss of Zetta Jet, has admitted spending company money on a luxury yacht and a Bentley shortly before the business declared bankruptcy.
The Huffington Post has reported that Cassidy’s lavish spending has angered creditors, who lost millions of dollars when Zetta Jet declared bankruptcy in September 2017.
Geoffrey Cassidy
According to the outlet, Cassidy’s former business partners have alleged that he looted up to $30 million from Zetta Jet and this caused the company to collapse.
Zetta Jet was set up in 2015 by Cassidy and two partners, James Seagrim and Stephen Walter. It was reportedly a popular private jet operator with clients including many celebrities and sports stars.
However, Seagrim and Walter were forced to file for bankruptcy last year when the company could no longer pay its bills.
Their bankruptcy motion states: “In August 2017, Zetta Jet’s management learned that one of its officers, Geoffrey Cassidy (who has since been removed from office), was engaged in what Zetta Jet alleges to be fraud, embezzlement, breaches of fidicuary duty, defalcation and self-dealing at a loss of millions of dollars to Zetta Jet.”
According to the bankruptcy motion, Cassidy spent between $3 million and $10 million of company money on private yachts. It also claims he spent about $2 million on luxury cars in Singapore and used company money to renovate his property.
The same accusations of fraud and embezzlement are made by Seagrim and Walter in a civil lawsuit brought against Cassidy at US District Court for Central California.
Cassidy filed a declaration with the California court seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed because it did not have jurisdiction. The court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit earlier this year.
However, Cassidy’s declaration also contains details of his spending. In it, he admits to buying a luxury yacht called the Dragon Pearl with Zetta Jet’s money but insisted that the purchase was to “set-off” debt owed to him by the company.
According to the Dragon Pearl’s builder, the boat was fitted out with A$1.3 million of extras including a sound system and entertainment suite costing A$80,000.
Cassidy also admits that he bought a Bentley Flying Spur, which retails for over $200,000, but claimed that it was his company car.
The Huffington Post also reported that law enforcement agencies were looking at other allegations made by Seagrim and Walter, including a claim that Cassidy received $2 million in kickbacks for each private jet he bought.
According to the bankruptcy motion and the fraud lawsuit, Cassidy allegedly received the kickbacks from Jetcraft, a broker for Bombardier. Cassidy is alleged to have received a total of between $14 million and $18 million in bribes.
In his declaration to the California court, Cassidy denied any wrongdoing. However, when he addressed the issue of the kickbacks directly, he did not specifically deny the allegation.
He said: “The complaint alleges that I received illegal kickbacks from the sellers and/or lessors of the company’s Bombardier aircraft. All the sales or lease agreements relating to these aircraft were negotiated and executed in Singapore (as well as in China, Dubai and Montreal), transacted through bank accounts located in Singapore, China and Canada and have nothing to do with California.”
Author: James North
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